Sword Art Online - After The Incident
by Dragondemolition
Summary: Its been a whole year since Kazuto was brought to ALO, and he is having his problems. Aside his school and social life, a threat he thought was long gone has come back to haunt and torture him. How will he and Asuna put through this new problem, and make their lives work? Rated T for cursing.
1. Chapter 1 - The Nightmares

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_ Chapter 1 – The Nightmares _

In school. Kazuto´s POV

It had been a whole year since I got out of ALO. I finally started to walk without crutches six months ago. The dreams, no, nightmares of Asuna ever leaving my side, was still haunting me. And they were more powerful and terrifying than ever before. Every night I would wake up, burst away from my pillow with an ear piercing scream, which could probably be heard all over town. My aunt and cousin knew of this of course, but I hadn´t told Asuna anything yet. She had her head full enough with school life, her friends, and her family. And I didn´t want to worry her.

I still had a feeling she knew something though. I was extremely tired in the day. Would often fall asleep in class. It made my grades drop and I knew Asuna would notice. She would worry over it sooner or later, so my options were simple. Tell her about my nightmares and worry her, or don´t tell her and worry her with my mood and grades dropping. I honestly didn´t know what was worse.

She would ask me sooner or later anyway. So I decided to get it over with and try to find a solution to my nightmares.

One day when we were walking back home from school, she looked at me with a worried expression when I had yawned loudly "Kazuto you ok? You have been really tired lately" She said with a hint of worry in her voice. I sighed a little and shook my head "If I need to be honest Asuna no I'm not… I.. I tried to keep it to myself but…" I muttered as I stopped walking and let my hair hide my eyes.

She stopped walking and looked back at me with a worried expression "K-Kazuto what are you talking about… Keep what to yourself?" She asked softly as she gripped her shirt in her hands with worry. I hitched a little as tears were threatening to fall, looking down to hide my shame "I'm sorry Asuna I… I tried to lie to you again…" I said as tears did roll down my eyes, staining the ground in front of me. She widened her eyes as she saw me cry and ran over, hugging me close to her. I could once again feel her warmth run throughout my body, and I took a deep breath before looking up at her with a saddened frown.

I was disappointed in myself for not telling her sooner. I knew she wanted the best for me, and I kept it to myself. Those awful dreams that haunted me every night.

"Asuna I… I´m having nightmares… E-Every night…" I mumbled. As I finished mumbling the truth she gasped and widened her eyes even more as she put her hands over her mouth in disbelief. She stared at me for a couple of seconds. Silence fell between us, a breeze wafted between us, and I couldn´t bring myself to look at her. I looked away, not able to look at her scared and pained expression. It didn´t suit her. A smile suited my queen in red and white best after all.

After a long silence she looked down and mumbled "How long…?" I didn´t quite understand so I looked up at her "What?" I asked softly as I looked at her. She growled and looked up at me. Now her pained expression had turned into one of anger "How long have these nightmares been with you!?" She asked angrily as she stared at me in disbelief. I hitched a little and looked down again. "Ever since I was captured by Sugou…" I mumbled, and began to cry. She looked at me angrily and began to sob too "For more than a year Kazuto… You lied to me for over a year!" she shouted angrily as she stared at me. Her sobbing made me look up at her and the sight before me crushed me to say the least.

There she was, my normally happy and cheerful queen, crying and pained and angry. I could see the fury behind those beautiful orbs for eyes of hers. Those that normally sent happy and loving signals, was now full of anger and despair. I took a step forward to hug her but she stepped away from me "No Kazuto… Don´t…"

This sentence made my insides curl up. It felt like I could puke at any moment. My emotions shattered just like a dead player in SAO would. I broke down and cried loudly as I stared at her, tears were falling down my face like waterfalls. My girlfriend pushed me away. She never did that. "Asuna please… Let me explain" I said desperately as she kept backing away from me. "No Kazuto… Just let me calm down a bit… " She mumbled as she turned on her heel and began running towards her residence. I looked after her shocked and desperate, reaching out my hand towards her and yelling her name "Asuna wait!"

My nightmares had now become a reality. I had lost what was most precious to me. The person I loved the most in the whole world had ran away from me, tears running down her face. I lowered my head screamed, hitting a concrete wall that stood beside me in my anger and desperation "Damn you Sugou… You took her away from me…" I mumbled as I could soon feel the blood from the new wounds on my knuckles run down my wrist, coloring it red. I looked down at my wounded hand and balled it together in my anger, before slowly making my way home, sobbing or crying all the way.

As I got home and in through the door, Suguha greeted me with her cheerful smile, just like always. I didn´t hear or see her though. It didn´t matter anymore. I simply ran up to my room and locked the door behind me, slowly sliding down of it with my back against it. I curled up, making my knees hide my face as I cried. Soon I could hear concerned voiced from the hall and several knocks on my door, but I didn´t care. I didn´t answer them. Nothing mattered anymore if I couldn´t have my girlfriend by my side. The knocks and voices soon stopped and so did my crying. I just lied down on my bed, my head filled with negative emotions. I became like an empty shell, hollow and emotionless as I fell asleep.

Some hours later I woke up again, to the sound of knocking and voices. This wasn´t my aunt or cousin´s voices though. It was female, sure, but this was a voice I would recognize anywhere. It was soft and wary, but powerful and strong at the same time. It was Asuna.

I flew off my bed and unlocked my door, practically ripping it off its hinges. I stood there and stared at my girlfriend who stood on the other side of the doorframe, with tears in her eyes and on her cheeks. She smiled sadly and flew into my arms, and I caught her, immediately wrapping my arms around her, her arms around my neck. She nearly suffocated me with her hug but I didn´t care. I was just happy that she didn´t totally hate me.

As we parted from the hug, I stared at her and she looked at me with a small smile "Kazuto our relationship isn´t over… I just hate when you lie for my sake." She said as she cupped my face in her hands. The shattered pieces of my emotions that was shattered earlier began to pull themselves back together, and gave my emotions back. I was no longer an empty shell of myself. My eyes were filled with tears once again and my breathing got heavy and fast as I broke down again and hugged her close to me. "Oh god… Don´t ever scare me like that again…" I whispered softly as i sobbed onto her shoulder and felt her hand run over the back of my head.

I slowly calmed down and took a couple of deep breaths before we sat down on the bed and talked it through "Well ever since I got captured by Sugou, I have had these terrible nightmares every night.." I mumbled as I looked at my significant other "Some where you would leave me one way or another.. and some where Sugou would come back and kill everyone I love.. Our friends, our families… Yui…" I mumbled sadly as my memories flashed back to a nightmare where Sugou was standing over the corpses of my virtual wife and daughter.

I teared up a little but wiped off my tears before continuing my story "but I knew how much your school, friends and family fill in your life so… I decided to keep quiet about my problem" I said regretting as I clenched my fists. I growled a little of my own stupidity and continued "It went well at first but… My grades began to dive and I didn´t get much sleep. I got caught sleeping in class and I couldn´t concentrate." I said with a sigh.

"This continued for a year until I decided for you and for myself that I would tell you… And let you help me through these nightmares" I said as I finished my speech and looked back up at Asuna. Throughout the speech she had just nodded an hummed yes, looking at me as she listened to what I had to say. As I finished she nodded one last time and sighed "Well the first thing to do is to get rid of those nightmares." She said softly as she gently caressed my arm. I smiled a little and nodded as I looked at her "I´m sorry that I lied to you.." I mumbled a little as I looked at her with a sad smile.

She nodded and looked back at me with a smile and tears in her eyes "It´s okay Kazuto… Just.. Don´t do it again please… I want to know when my knight in black armor isn´t feeling well." She said as the tears in her eyes began rolling down her cheeks. I blushed a little at the knight comment but wiped her tears away with my thumb, before gently embracing her. She smiled and hugged me back as we sat there for a moment to calm down.

As we had calmed down and let go of each other, Asuna lied down on my bed and looked up into the ceiling "Kazuto… What are those nightmares about?" She asked softly as she looked up at me with a soft smile. I smiled back and lied down beside her, taking her hand and squeezing it lightly "Well… Most of them is about Sugou taking you and Yui away from me… sometimes you guys are dead…" I mumbled as the nightmares rushed back into my head. She nodded a little and cuddled up to me as she squeezed my hand, and kissed my cheek "Don´t worry.. Me and Yui are here for you ok?" She softly said as she lied her head on my shoulder. I nodded a little and kissed her back before hugging her closer by my right arm.

"Speaking of Yui, what do you say we go into ALO and visit her? I´m sure she miss us." I mumbled as I looked into Asuna´s bright chestnut eyes, that now was sparkling with happiness again. She softly nodded and smiled as she pecked my cheek, and went to get my old Nervegear, and the new Amusphere I had bought. I smiled a little as we both put on our respective VR helmets, and lied down with her, taking her hand and closing my eyes before we shouted in unison "Link, Start!"

Soon we were back in ALO by the world tree. I had been amazed when I first came back here how much detail that had been put into the game. I hated to admit that Sugou and his team had made a pretty good job in making this game. The thing I was most excited about was, that my new character could fly. I could never do that with the avatar I had been imprisoned with, but then again Sugou had GM privileges at that time, and could probably forbid my character from flying.

As Asuna and I entered ALO, Yui immediately transformed into her human form and hugged us both close, excited to see her parents "Mama, Papa! Welcome back" She yelled happily, as she smiled and hugged Asuna and I by our necks. As we had said our hellos, Yui transformed into pixie form and hid in my breast pocket, before I took Asuna´s hand and we flew towards the inn we were staying in. We hadn´t saved enough money for a house or cottage yet, and New SAO was still under development. Me, Agil and Klein had worked on it for a long time now, and in a week, it would finally be done. I had of course made sure that me and Asuna´s cottage on floor 22, and the beautiful lakes and mountains that surrounded it was included in New SAO.

But for now we had to settle with a three man bedroom in world tree´s city´s best inn. Asuna and Yui definitely didn't complain, even though we all missed the cottage in SAO. Me and the guys was almost finished, and I had tried to bring my family in to check out the earlier versions of the game, but sadly it wasn´t possible without very complicated codes. Even Yui couldn´t decode them.

As me and my family entered the inn I smiled at the girl who was standing behind the counter and gave her the rent for the day, before heading up to our room. I smiled and piggy backed Yui up there, before sitting her down on one of the beds. "Hey Yui… How about we go train some sword skills today?" I asked her with a smile. She lit up in an excited scream and smile "Yay! My first battle with Mama and Papa" She exclaimed happily as she jumped into my arms.

I chuckled a little and hugged her back before looking at her. "Good. I have turned all your data into an avatar you can use in this game, and in New SAO. This gives you the ability to go between ALO and New SAO anytime you would like. That also means you will be able to use magic, sword skills and weapons and equipment from the games. But if we accept the conditions you can no longer be a navigation pixie. That means no code decoding, or map navigation. You can´t do what you could as a navigation pixie. Do you still want to switch into an avatar?" I asked as I looked into her dark grey eyes. She smiled widely and clenched her fist confidently, as she put her fist in the air "I´m not backing down now!" she exclaimed as she smirked at me. I chuckled a little and nodded "Ok. I will just need to log out and commence the process. Be back in a minute" I said as I opened my menu, and logged out.

As soon as I got out I booted up my computer and found the conversion program on my hotbar. I clicked the mouse and ran the program, before monitoring how it was going on my three screens.

Inside ALO. Yui´s POV

Not very long after Papa logged out of the game, I could feel a fuzzy feeling starting from my tummy. I could feel how my codes slowly got changed, into ones that had all the privileges a normal avatar had. A blinding light began appearing all around me, and at no time at all, I could feel my codes turn from a navigation pixie´s, to ones of a neutral avatar. As the light disappeared I stood in the middle of the room. All of a sudden I realized I wasn´t wearing the same clothes as I did before. Now I was wearing a light grey shirt and dark brown jeans, with shoulder pats on both my shoulders, and a belt with a sheath and a sword around my waist. I smirked over at Mama and gave her a thumbs up, unsheathing my sword with confidence "hehe. I´m definitely going to be a strong swordswoman someday" I said confidently as my mother smiled at me and hugged me close "Yeah someday you are" She said softly as she held my head close to her shoulder.

Back in ALO. Kazuto´s POV

As I logged back into ALO to check how the program worked, I smiled a little as I woke up on the bed I had lied in to log out. I sighed a little as I sat up, but not as soon had I done that before Yui jumped into my arms, and pushed me back down on the bed "Yay! I´m a fairy now! Thank you so much daddy!" she yelled happily as she wrapped her arms around my neck. I laughed loudly and so did Asuna, who decided to join in. She jumped onto the bed and laughed loudly as she hugged us both. I chuckled a little as I looked at my daughter and wife "Well if you want to apply to a race we have to take contact to the highest counsel of ALO. They will be able to help us" I said with a smirk as I held them both close. "Ok Papa. But let´s do it tomorrow. Today I wanna train" My daughter said happily as she let go of me and jumped up and down excitedly. I nodded with a smirk and looked over at Asuna, who smiled and nodded, before we stood up and headed out into the world of ALO to train our daughter.

**A/N**

**Hello guys. Yes I am back with another SAO Story!  
This time it´s After The Incident. You excited? I sure am :D  
Be sure to be back next week to read my new chapters.**

**See you next week :D**


	2. Chapter 2 - Yui's Training

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 2 – Yui´s Training_

**A/N**

**There is an important authors note at the end of this, so please read it. On with the story!**

_Inside ALO. Kirito´s POV_

As Yui´s data transfer was complete, we had headed out into the city to get her some new equipment. She had tried to put on a full set of knight armor, but since her STR stat wasn´t high enough yet, she couldn´t wear it properly. I had had a hard time concealing my laugh when she put on the helmet and stumbled around, like a baby would when it tried to walk. She fell and I helped her up, and helped her unequip this unnecessary equipment to find something a little lower level, which would suit her better.

"Hey Yui" I said as I looked back at Yui, who I was currently carrying in a piggyback ride "You want to be fast and have weaker attacks, or be slower and have stronger attacks?" She put her finger to her mouth and looked up at the sky as she thought. She was so concentrated I could almost see the gears in her head turning.

"What do you say mommy?" she asked her mother softly as she looked over at Asuna, who was currently walking beside us as we walked through town, her blue undine hair waving in the wind that was currently rushing through the streets. She smiled over at her daughter and shrugged "It depends what you personally like best honey" She answered as she softly ruffled our daughter´s hair, which was rewarded with a giggle.

"Well, then I would rather be fast. Strong and brutal isn´t really my thing" She said as she smiled widely at her mother. I nodded and looked around for a weapons merchant, before approaching a certain blacksmith´s shop. "Lizbeth! It´s me Kirito!" I yelled throughout the shop, the echo bouncing from the walls and back in my face. After a couple of seconds, Lizbeth came out from the back of the shop "Welcome to Lizbeth´s smith shop!" She said excitedly before seeing who I was "Oh it´s you. You´re not here to smash any more of my weapons are you?" She said as she smirked at me. I rolled my eyes and chuckled as Yui began to scold me "You broke one of her swords?! Daddy that´s not nice!" She yelled loudly as she squeezed my chest. I Simply chuckled and put her down so our eyes could meet.

"Well I didn´t know her "Masterpiece of a sword" would break so easily." I said as I looked back at Lizbeth with a smirk. I could immediately see that my words had taken effect, since a furious blush and a huff came from the bashful blacksmith. She huffed and put her hands on her hips as Asuna stood beside me with a giggle. "You know people can hear you on the street." She said as she giggled, and took my hand which was a surprise to me, since she never did those things when Klein or Lizbeth were around. I leaned over and whispered in her ear "Aren´t you afraid Liz is going to tease us?" I asked as I looked at her with a concerned expression. She nodded and pouted "B-But… I want to hold your hand" This short sentence resulted in both me and Asuna blushing furiously, to big happiness from Lizbeth "Oh god get a room already you two!" She said as she smirked and chuckled, both me and Asuna blushing even deeper than before.

"Not to interrupt" Yui suddenly said "But aren´t we here to get me a sword?" She said as she puffed out her cheeks and crossed her arms adorably. I chuckled a little and picked her up, holding her in my arms "You learned that pouting from your mommy!" I said laughing, and even Asuna chuckled a little as she pouted in the exact same way "I do not pout like that!" She said as she puffed out her cheeks. I simply rolled my eyes and shrugged as I walked over to a glass cabinet, lined up with several different swords, axes and knifes, including a shelf with only rapiers. "Yui you want a rapier?" I asked my young daughter. She smiled brightly and jumped up and down from excitement "Yes yes yes! Just like mommy´s!" I chuckled a little and nodded before picking up a random rapier. I gasped as I saw it´s stats.

It was incredibly light, but even so it´s ATK stat was still enormous for a rapier of this weight. I scrolled down it´s stat´s page, and to my surprise it even gave a special skill, just like my dual wielding skills. I looked over it´s name. It was the Lightning Lotus.

This was a perfect weapon for Yui. It didn´t crave the biggest stats so it was great for a beginner, and even so it would still be fast, and do great damage. I picked it up and examined it closer. It was a very beautiful sword. A green handle with lotus patterns alongside it, and a beautiful sharpened blade, also decorated with several beautiful lotus patterns. I stared down at it and a smile widened on my face as I turned to Lizbeth, who simply smirked and looked at me with a self-satisfied smirk "You like it?" She asked as I stared at her in awe. I didn´t answer her question though.

"How the heck did you make such a powerful sword?!" I asked as I looked down at Yui, who had grabbed the sword out of my hands, and now began examining it in her hands. I looked back at Lizbeth and continued "This is made from some of the rarest materials in ALO!" She smirked a little and wafted her hair back from her face before answering, "I have my sources. Now go try it out Yui. I will just discuss the price with your father" She said as Yui squealed and sprinted out the front door, with Asuna close behind "Wait for me!" she yelled as the door closed with a loud bang.

I sighed a little and looked over at Liz "I would have to guess the sword isn´t that cheap right?" I said as I looked at her with a resigned sigh. She smirked a little and nodded "But because you haven´t done anything stupid recently" I pouted a little and huffed at her comment "I can take half of the price off. But it´s still for sale for around 250.000 Col" I sighed a little and grumbled a little. It was really pricy, and we were still saving for that cottage. "Can I have a word with Asuna first?" I asked her with a thoughtful expression. She nodded a little as the doorbell rang and she smiled widely "Hang on a second Kirito" She said wuickly as she tidied up her hair and dress before attending to the new customer.

I stepped out of the shop and used the minimap on my menu to track down Asuna and Yui, who seemed to be just south of town. I activated my wings and quickly flew on my way. I soon saw my wife and daughter from above, and tried to land again, which ended in a faceplant straight into the ground and a yelp from my family who stood right nearby. I had done that at least three times now. "Ow… I need to sharpen those landings…" I mumbled as I got back to my feet and walked over to my family as I rubbed the back of my neck.

"Well the good thing is that no one has bought the sword yet" I said with a smile and the two girls smiled and nodded "The bad news is it costs 250.000 col" I said with a sigh. They looked at me sadly and nodded in defeat "Should we save up for the cottage and ask Liz to reserve the sword for us?" Asuna mumbled softly as she took my hand. I sighed a little and looked down at Yui "Do you really want that sword Yui?" I asked as I sat down on my knees so we were at eyelevel. She nodded slowly and looked at me warily "But… If we don´t have enough money it´s just too bad right?" She murmured softly and I nodded a little "Well let´s just buy the cottage and see if it´s sold by then. Ok?" She smiled a little and nodded before we all headed back to Lizbeth´s shop.

As we arrived there Yui was the first to head inside, and she zipped straight towards the glass cabinet with weapons inside. She jumped up and down from excitement as she scanned the weapons once again, to find a more decent and cheap weapon. Finally she found a simple metal rapier, and we paid for the weapon. As soon as we did that we headed back towards the southern plains to start our first training session with our daughter.

We went back to the plains and soon found a good mob to begin training on. It was a pretty basic mob, just a lone wolf, but I knew that it had a special skill. If you didn´t kill it quick enough it would howl for it´s pack, and that would mean trouble. If Yui became too cocky and didn´t kill it quick enough, she might have earned a fright for her first training lessons. "Ok Yui. What you want to do here, is-" But before I could even finish my sentence she had already blown forward with her rapier raised, killing the wolf instantly. Both me and Asuna´s jaws dropped as we watched her sheath her rapier and look back at us with a smirk "Do we have anything more challenging? This is boring" She said as she smiled and walked over to us with a cocky smirk. I smiled and chuckled a bit. "That´s my girl!" I exclaimed happily as I high fived her and we went further out into the plain.

About two hours later Yui´s stats had increased several points each, so I decided to give her a challenge "hey Yui! How about a real challenge?" I yelled from a bit away as me and Asuna sat in the grass and watched her kill of mob after mob. As she finished the last killer bee that stood in her way, she looked back over her shoulder and nodded confidently as she sheathed her sword and went over to us, sitting down on her knees to listen to my offer.

I smirked a little before opening my menu "If you can beat me in the city´s PVP arena, you can get some of the equipment I have gathered!" I said confidently as I showed her my menu, which was full of pretty decent gear. She smirked and looked up at me with a confident raise of an eyebrow "You sure you can do this daddy? I mean I don´t know if you would even stand for a minute!" I pouted a little and crossed my arms as Asuna beside me laughed loudly. I smiled over at her before looking back at my daughter with a competitive expression "Oh you´re on little one!" I said as I smirked and grabbed Asuna´s hand. "Raise you there yui!" I yelled over my shoulder as me and Asuna left the ground and flew towards the city as fast as we could. I could hear my daughter yell behind us "Hey you cheated!" as she began to fly too, and quickly catched up to us.

As we landed in the city, Yui smiled widely and cheered as she had gotten there first "Yes! I win" She yelled loudly as she jumped up and down like an excited school girl. I chuckled a little as I walked over "Good flying Yui. But you´re still not going to beat me in the arena" I smiled and ruffled her hair a little as I took Asuna´s hand and began to head towards the giant, Rome inspired dome of an arena.

As we entered we paid the fee for PVP battles, and set the reward for the winning player. As we entered Yui flew over to the opposite side of the Arena, and unsheathed her sword, standing in position like her kendo loving aunt had shown her. I was not sure if that was what I saw, but right before she dashed forward to attack, I thought I saw her murmuring something. She dashed forward and stabbed quickly, but I sidestepped left and slashed upward so she would get knocked back. She stumbled backwards and growled slightly before finding her stance once again, jumping backwards as I slashed towards her, making me hit only thin air.

I growled a little as it now was my turn to go on the offensive and I jumped forward, slashing left. She leaned back so her head almost touched the ground, making her head lower than the slash I had just send her way. I smirked a little and nodded "This is my chance!" I thought to myself as I kicked her left leg, making her collapse on her back. I smirked a little and pointed my sword towards her as she lied on the ground "looks like I win" I mumbled as I smiled down at her confidently. My confidence was short lived though when I saw her smiling up at me "Yeah you wish!" I frowned a little in confusion before feeling a sharp blow to my back and a raging heat as I was send into, and through the dome´s wall.

I growled a little and rubbed my arm as I dug myself out of the rubble that had been a wall just seconds before, and moaned a little of pain as I tumbled out onto the gravel floor of the dome. I panted a little as I slowly got relieved from the pain. "W-What the heck…?" I asked myself as I began thinking back. Then I realized. The picture of Yui mumbling something flashed into my mind, as I realized she had been enchanting a spell for invisible fireballs "hehe. Clever" I mumbled as I walked out into the dome. I looked up at my remaining Hp. It was a little lower than the green zone. I had 54.768 Hp out of my 80.000 total Hp. That spell had done quite some damage, so it must have been a powerful one.

I looked up at the spectator rows and saw Asuna, with wide eyes and wide open mouth as she stared down at the battle that unfurled before her. I growled a little as I looked back at my daughter "You´re surprisingly strong Yui I will give you that" I said loudly as I slowly walked towards her with my one handed sword at my side. "But don´t hold back. I know you´re stronger than this" I said with a smirk as I sprinted forward and delivered blow after blow. I widened my eyes a little as I realized she easily kept up, blocking, parrying and returning every single attack I send her way. I growled a little and jumped back so I could think of a plan of attack. Yui didn´t give me much of an opening though, as she send a wave of fireballs after me as soon as I tried to flee.

I dodged the fireballs and even send some of them back at Yui with my sword, but she dodged them so they crashed into the dome walls. I growled a little as she finally let me think a little, and come up with a strategy. "dammit… I'm not hitting her at all…" I mumbled as I looked over Yui, examining her and her equipment. "Wait a minute.." I realized her shoulder plate was sitting slightly loose. "If I can hit her shoulder… Maybe I can still win this" I mumbled. I began enchanting for a spell "Oru Miru Ira Mori" I yelled, and sent three barrages of water orbs after her. When she began working on them I smirked a little, before dashing forward, catching her off guard. She looked at me and gasped but when she realised it, it was too late. I began stabbing mercilessly, chipping her Hp away with each stab and slash. Her Hp went downwards quickly, and when it ended up in the red zone, a loud airhorn sounded. I had won the duel.

I smirked and sheathed my sword as Yui fall backwards on her butt. "Aww I lost. But I was in control the whole time!" She exclaimed disappointed as she pouted and got back to her feet, before sheathing her rapier. "but thanks for the duel daddy! It was really fun!" She yelled childishly as she jumped into my arms. I laughed and spun her around as she jumped into my arms "No thank you! You did really great!" I chuckled a little as Asuna flew down to us and hugged me and Yui tightly "Good work both of you. And as a bonus for the winner…" She whispered before kissing me on the cheek "A little bonus" She said seductively as she took my me and Yui´s hands. A blush crept onto my cheeks as she continued "Let´s go home guys. It´s getting late!" She said and smiled before we headed home.

After dinner that night we lied down a little with Yui, all three on the same bed, cuddled up to each other. Yui´s eyes had become extremely heavy, and she soon fell asleep, which only left me and Asuna awake "Aww she is so exhausted" Asuna mumbled as she carefully brushed some of Yui´s hair away from her face, receiving a peaceful hum and a smile from our daughter. I smiled and nodded softly as I leaned over and kissed my virtual wife deeply. She smiled a little and immediately kissed me back, cupping my face in her hands as we kissed.

"Today sure was exhausting. Yui almost beat me" I said with a smirk as we lied and looked at each other for a while. She nodded a little and smiled as she held Yui close to her body "Well she did train a lot today. No wonder she is so exhausted" She mumbled as Yui smiled wider and snuggled up to her mother in her sleep. I smiled softly and kissed her forehead before standing up from the bed. "Well it´s getting late and we´re going to school tomorrow. Let´s log out and get some sleep" I mumbled softly as I lied down on a separate bed to make some space for Asuna and Yui "See you tomorrow?" I asked Asuna softly as she looked over at me and nodded and smiled "See you tomorrow Kazuto" she said softly as we both turned to our respective menu´s and logged out.

**A/N**

**Hello everybody and thank you for reading.**

**So what did you think about this chapter? Was there enough action? Was there too much or too little fluff? Be sure to let me know by reviewing ok?**

**Also there is something I have to say to you guys.**

**You see, my ground school exams are coming up soon. The first half of my exams starts tomorrow as a matter of fact, and they will continue all week.**

**After that there will be a pause where I have to focus and practice the last of my exams, so because of this, this is the last time I update in a while.**

**When the summer break comes I will frequently update this and my other stories for you guys, so don´t worry. It won´t be months before you guys see an update.**

**Thank you for reading and reviewing, and I will see you in the next chapter.**

**See you there!**


	3. Chapter 3 - Yui's Family

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 3 Imaginary Loss_

Kazuto´s POV.

_Another scream. It came from the cottage. I knew the voice it belonged to, and I shuddered to imagine what had happened. I ran and ran towards it, but no matter how far I ran I would get any closer to the cottage. The sky above me quickly turned a dark crimson red, but I didn´t give it much thought. The only thing on my mind was to get to that voice._

_I stopped for a while to catch my breath. Sweat was running down my face, and not my eyes, blurring my vision. I closed my eyes to wipe them and when I opened them again, I stood on the porch to the cottage. _

_Another scream pierced the silence. My stomach turned and I quickly grabbed the doorknob, but the door wouldn´t open. I kicked the door, banged onto it with my hands furiously and desperately. I kicked again and again. I could feel how my hands and feet began to go numb, but the door wouldn´t budge in the slightest._

_I moaned a little out of pain and took a step back, considering what else I could try. Out of my desperation, I slammed into the door with my body, and finally I could feel the doorframe give out. I widened my eyes and gasped, as I realized there was still hope._

_I continued to slam my body onto the oak wood door, one time, then a second, and a third. My shoulder hurt like hell but I didn´t care. My mind was only set on getting inside._

_Finally the door broke down and pulverized into many small polygons. I growled and panted a little as I sprinted up the stairs, the wood squeaking under my feet as I jumped three steps at a time._

_Sweat ran down my face like waterfalls and I clenched my aching shoulder tightly as I made my way upstairs. I finally made my way to the last step, confused and desperately looking right and left before sprinting left down the hall and slamming onto the door to my wife and my owns bedroom._

"_Asuna! Asuna are you in there?!" I screamed loudly as I banged onto the door again and again. _

_My desperate cry was met with a loud scream of my name._

"_Kirito!" The woman voice echoed, desperate and afraid._

_I gritted my teeth and once again began slamming onto the door with all my body weight and soon it also fell apart and burst into nothingness. I burst into the room and my hand instinctively reached up for the sword on my back, but my movements froze when I saw what was happening before me. _

_Asuna was sprawled out across her bed, with a very wide wound across her abdomen. She stared up at me with obvious pain and fear printed into her facial expression. Above her was a dark silhouette. In the other end of the room, Yui sat with her back against the far wall, a small blood pool running down the wall behind her, signifying that it was her blood, and she had been slammed onto the wall and slided down of it._

_I looked at the sight before me, stunned and afraid, before stepping forward towards the silhouette and unsheathing my Elucidator and Dark Repulser, slashing towards him. He simply jumped backwards away from Asuna´s out sprawled body, and towards the far corner of the room. His front hair was covering his eyes and facial features so I couldn´t see who he was. _

_I growled and madly swung up down and left and right, faster and faster all the time, my Dark Repulser shining a faint bright blue, and my dark repulse pulsing out a dark aura, powerful and full of anger. My rage turned into speed and power, but when I finally hit the guy he simply vanished into the air. I widened my eyes and lowered my sword, looking around and frowning deeply as I kept my guard up._

_Suddenly Asuna´s beautiful voice cut through the silence._

"_Kirito behind you!" _

_I spun around and saw the person, his hair was no longer covering his face, and his body was no longer a dark silhouette. I could see who he was, and I knew the person all too well. It was Sugou, once again back to haunt me, back to hurt me and my family to get what he wants. _

_Before I could defend either my family or myself, I could feel the very well-known feeling of cold steel entering my body from the outside. I let out a choked gasp as the knife Sugou had been holding made its way through the meat on my stomach, all the way into my internal organs. I fell backwards and down on the floor beside my unconscious daughter, as I heard a scream somewhere from far away._

_The scream came from my virtual wife, who was currently on her way towards me. She fell down beside me and grabbed my head in her hands desperately, while calling out my name again and again. Tears were clinging to my eyes as I weakly looked up at her, Sugou´s looming body slowly walking up behind her, raising his knife for another strike. _

_My vision was blurry, my surroundings hard to make out, and my breath was choking in blood as I slowly lost my consciousness, and closed my eyes, followed with one last scream from my wonderful and beautiful wife._

I burst my eyes open and yanked my head off the pillow as I woke up with a gasp. I was panting violently and sweat was running down my face, as I stared out into my room. I panted slightly as I looked down to my right. Beside me lied my beautiful girlfriend, no wound, no screams, no terrified eyes begging me to wake up. There was a beautiful girl, peacefully sleeping with her boyfriend, her breath deep and clean.

I sighed a little and looked down at her with a faint smile. She really was an angel. Not only could she live with me and my flaws, but she had sworn to do anything to help me, and protect me. She truly was my queen in red and white.

I smiled and stood up from the bed, and went out into the bathroom to get some water in my face. I had had enough of those goddamn nightmares. I cupped my hands and filled them with water, splashing my face over and over again, to try and forget the nightmares, just for a while at least.

When I had splashed my face for the tenth time, and opened my eyes, Asuna suddenly stood behind me, and wrapped her arms around my waist. I was a little scared but smiled and hummed in appreciation as she wrapped her arms around my body. I smirked and put my arms on hers.

"More nightmares huh?" She asked me softly as she looked at my mirror reflection.

I nodded softly before turning around to face her. I smiled a little before softly kissing her lips.

"Yeah. Did I wake you up?" I asked softly as she put her head on my chest.

She smiled and chuckled before looking up at me with a smile, brushing some hair away from my forehead.

"That doesn´t matter." She mumbled softly as she began to stroke my hair gently.

"What matters right now is to get rid of those nightmares." She said as she kissed my cheek.

I nodded a little and sighed as I led her back to the bedroom and lied down with her.

She smiled and hugged me close by the waist.

"Kirito… You do know you have nothing to fear right?" She softly asked as she crawled up onto me and looked down at me, her hair forming a curtain around us.

I nodded a little and sighed as I moved some of her hair behind her ear.

"I know Asuna… I have been telling myself that for months now…" I mumbled as I stared into her chestnut eyes, which was sparkling with life.

She frowned a little and kissed my forehead before sighing.

"I really think it´s time for you get a vacation Kirito… These nightmares are coming more frequently than ever and you´re stressing out…" She suddenly mumbled.

I nodded a little. I knew she was right. The nightmares did come more often than they used to, but I did not have a clue why. They had also become more horrible, once or twice, I had watched my daughter and wife being tortured and killed before my eyes. So at this point, a vacation didn´t sound so bad.

"That does sound good… But what about school?" I Asked as I looked up at my girlfriend, who was currently lying down on top of me, putting her forehead on my chest.

"Screw school. The principal will understand." She mumbled as she played with an especially long lock of my hair. I looked up at her with surprise in my eyes. She never were like that. She never 'Screwed' anything, especially not school. Could love really make people change that much?

"I guess I can go with a vacation with my family..." I mumbled softly, which was replied with a pout from Asuna.

"I´m going too dummy!" She huffed as she puffed out her cheeks. I looked at her in absolute shock.

"What!? You´re going to abandon school!?" I asked in surprise, she simply nodded and chuckled down at me.

"Of course. I don´t want to let you go somewhere if there is something really wrong. I would worry way to much" she mumbled as she kissed me deeply.

I smiled and closed my eyes as I felt her lips towards mine, aggressively kissing her back. I always loved this. Not just because of the physical contact between me and my girlfriend, but the feeling she gave me when she kissed me was always wonderful. Just her presence was enough to keep me happy, for the rest of my life. I was just happy that the girl, no, woman I loved cared so much about me.

When we broke off our first kissed I smirked at her and rolled us around playfully, so she no longer was the one at the top, but on the contrary, I was now at top and pinning her down on the mattress. She smiled up at me seductively and I smirked back.

"If you want to go on a vacation with me you would better behave young lady" I said playfully as I brought my face closer to hers. She giggled and stuck her tongue out at me playfully.

"You can´t decide for me! You´re not my dad" She responded, in the same playful tone as mine. I smiled and kissed her deeply, and she smiled and cupped my face in her hands as we kissed.

"Hey Kazuto… I have been thinking about something…" She mumbled about 30 minutes later.

"What is it Asuna?" I asked as I stood by the room´s window, staring out at the sun that was starting to rise in the distance.

"Well, lately Yui have been asking about her grandparents… About her family…" She mumbled silently as she walked up beside me in her nightgown. I nodded a little and sighed looking over at her.

"Yeah. This might be the best time to tell our parents about her." I mumbled back as we closed ourselves in for a hug. She nodded softly as she lied her head on my shoulder, keeping the silence to ourselves.

~ Later that day ~

Me and Asuna had made our parents meet at the park under the giant Sakura tree, where me and Asuna had first met. With us we had brought a virtual monitor, where Yui would pop up as soon as we presented her. I wasn´t that nervous about my own family, since Suguha already knew Yui from playing with her, and my aunt was always understanding. I wasn´t so sure about Asuna´s parents though.

When me and Asuna arrived at the Sakura tree, our parents were already there, waiting for us. I held Asuna´s hand and squeezed it tightly in my nervousness. I could feel her squeeze back and her breath towards my ear, followed by a soft and beautiful voice.

"It´s ok Kazuto. It´s going to be ok" She whispered softly as we approached our parents and I deeply bowed.

"Thank you everybody for coming." I said as I looked back up at Asuna´s parents.

"We…W-We have something to tell you.." Asuna said shakily as we continued. It seemed she was just as nervous as I was. Kyouko huffed and crossed her arms.

"Can we hurry this up? I have a business meeting!" She hurried, and I nodded a little.

"Well if you want this to be fast I will get straight to the point. We want you guys to be introduced to our daughter, Yui Kirigaya" I said as I booted up the virtual monitor, a happy and cheerful fairy Yui appearing on the screen.

" Good afternoon grandpa, grandma!" She excitedly shouted as she hugged the screen. Me and Asuna´s parents stared at our daughter, completely shocked. Shouzou, who is Asuna´s dad, was the first to say anything.

"When did you get her?" He asked softly, but was interrupted immediately by Kyouko.

"Honey that doesn´t matter! What matters is how you could get a child and not tell us before!" She shouted angrily, and for the first time I had ever seen, on the verge of tears. Yui hid behind a bush on the virtual monitor, supposedly scared of her grandmother. My aunt was standing against the trunk of the sakura tree. She looked like she had trouble processing the information she had just received.

Asuna and I quickly began explaining how we had met Yui in Sao, how we took care of her in our cottage, and how quickly we had grown real feelings for her. How we quickly had grown into a real family with real emotions attached. Our parents silently listened to our story, and when we reached the part where Yui was taken from us by the Kardinal system, even Kyouko had to blow her nose through her tears.

When we had finished the whole part where Yui had helped her mother rescue me out from the game, our parents finally took control of the words that needed to be spoken. Shouzou was the first to speak.

"Well Asuna I can´t really say i´m not shocked and the same goes for your mother and Kazuto-kun´s aunt." He began as he looked at us both with a very serious look.

"But I can´t see how this child, Yui was it?" He asked as he moved his face towards the monitor, where Yui, popping her head out of the bush she was hiding in, gave a quick and shy nod.

"I do though " Kyouko added, now stepping forward.

"Asuna you can´t use all that time in the virtual world. It´s a waste of time. You should concentrate about your career, not about some fake reality in some fake world." She coldly stated, crossing her arms with a glare.

I growled angrily as I stared at Asuna´s mother. I had always seen her as a very respected, and nice woman. But after hearing what she just said I got extremely angry.

"So you´re calling Sao fake? You call the virtual world fake?" I mumbled, seething and shaking with anger.

Kyouko didn´t hear me properly, so she asked. "What?"

I gritted my teeth and balled up my fists.

"Are you saying the virtual world is fake?! That everything I experienced… Everything that happened in Sao… My relationship with your daughter…. Yui… It´s all just one big lie?!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, ready to explode at any second with anger.

"Kazuto…" Asuna sadly mumbled, as she stared at me. I looked over at her angrily and then back at her mother.

"The things that happened to me… To all those people in those two years… Those wonderful, beautiful, horrible and nightmarish things that happened… I will remember them forever and they are not fake!" I screamed again. My throat burned and hurt and my eyes stung with tears. But I didn´t care. I handed Asuna Yui´s monitor and stormed away from them, hearing Asuna call my name from somewhere behind me.

I was fuming as I walked down the street, angrily gritting my teeth as I walked into an alleyway to take a shortcut to my home. That´s when I realized that I had gone down the wrong alleyway, into one that ended blindly. I angrily growled and punched the wall lightly, before sighing and looking down.

Suddently I heard a sound behind me. I stopped moving and listened closely. I thought I had heard footsteps. I listened intensely and frowned as my anger disappeared and was replaced with slight fear. The sound didn´t appear again, so I turned around and was about to head out of the alleyway again.

When I turned around I was met with a wildly grinning mask, a coat and a bat. I widened my eyes in fear and was about to yell but it was already too late. The mysterious person had already given me a quick jab in the neck with his bat. My vision blurred as I fell on the ground, the world around me slowly went dark. The last thing I saw and heard was the masked figure looming over my body, and car horns sounding in the far distance.

**A/N**

**Surprise!**

**Here you guys go. That was the third chapter.**

**Well since I had some time to write between exams and whatnot, I decided to write a new chapter.**

**There will not be a certain date of uploaded chapters, until my exams are over for this year. And the reason for this is that it´s not certain that I will have any spare time for writing, so I will just write when I have time. This of course means that I can´t make sure this will be uploaded on a Sunday.**

**Hope you guys liked the chapter, be sure to review and tell me what you liked and didn´t like. **

**Until next time, goodbye my dear readers.**


	4. Chapter 4 - Trapped Once Again

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 4 – Trapped, Once Again_

Unknown location, Kazuto´s POV.

I felt an incredible pain in the back of my head when I woke up. My vision was blurry and my hearing not that great, it looked like I saw double. I groaned a little and shook my head of confusion. I had a hard time remembering anything. I looked around sloppily and tried to clear my vision by blinking a few times.

"W-where…?" I managed to mutter, my voice low and not understandable because of the blow to the head I had received.

I looked around me and tried to see where I was, when my vision finally started to clear.

It was a very small room. Not much more than 5 meters wide and long. It smelled foully in here. Like oil, rot and ammoniac combined. The smell was intense, and as soon as I woke up from unconsciousness, it teased my gagging reflex. It felt like I could empty whatever was left in my stomach right then and there. I kept my mouth closed the best I could, to prevent myself from puking all over the place.

The room I was placed in was extremely dirty. Spider webs in every corner, and if I moved my feet they would leave deep footsteps in the thick layer of dust that lied on the floor. The walls was dotted with green rot, and I could see gigantic bugs and rats in the shadows of the room.

When I tried to stand I realised I was bound to a very unstable tree chair, my arms being held in place with at least three layers of duct tape. I tried to wiggle myself free, but the tape was too strong. Not that I had imagined it letting go of me anytime soon.

Every hair on my body stood at end as I heard footsteps from outside the room. My teeth automatically gritted themselves. It was like my body reacted to the surroundings by itself. It was certainly not easy to control what little movement I could perform.

The holed and rotten wooden door to my room slowly slided open, revealing the mask wearing guy who had knocked me out back in the alleyway. My body reacted on impulses and I no longer had any control over them. My brain no longer had control over the rest of my body. Not even my voice worked anymore.

My voice trembled as I tried to force words out of my mouth, but nothing came out other than scared noises. I choked and could no longer keep myself from puking. Out of pure reaction my body turned a knop in my stomach, sending all of which had resided inside it out onto the floor and on my jacket and jeans. The smell that had been foul before, was now even harder to conceal.

The guy with the mask laughed maniacally and looked at me.

"Not even able to keep his stomach under control. How pathetic"

I almost choked in my own puke. That voice. I recognized it. That cold, serpent like voice that had always sent shivers down my spine.

"S-Sugou…" I whispered softly out of pure terror. That bastard had managed to trap me, once again. I clenched my fists and tried to yank myself free. The chair I sat on tipped a little but that was all I got out of it.

"If you don´t stay still I will just have to punish you for disobeying" He yelled as he kicked out one of the chairs rotten legs.

It easily gave way and broke off the chair, the chair tipping and falling over. I couldn´t support my weight properly and tilted over, slamming my head onto the cold and hard stone floor. I choked on my spit and puke again, coughing a bit as I stared up at him angrily.

He slowly removed the mask he had been wearing, revealing his face in all its psychopathic glory. I wasn´t sure how to react, scream for help, or keep quiet. Honestly I felt like I would rather keep quiet. Firstly he had properly picked a location a long way from anyone else, secondly, I didn´t want him to get that satisfaction from me again. Me, screaming for my life. He wouldn´t get that pleasure again.

So when he approached me slowly and smirked down at me I simply stared up at him with an angry growl. He raised an eyebrow at me, looking at me questioningly.

"You´re not going to scream?" He asked curiously and I simply growled and frowned at him. He huffed and shrugged like this was the most normal thing in the world, before turning around and walking away from me towards a small and dark window, staring outside at whatever may have lied out there.

"You´re a weird individual Kazuto…" He mumbled softly as he stared out through the window.

"Who told you we were at a first name basis?" I asked coldly as I glared daggers into his neck. He chuckled a bit at my cold tone and turned back to smirk at me.

"No one needs to give me a permission." He softly mumbled as he fiddled with some of the long hair in front of his face.

He was no longer the well-groomed man he once claimed to be. His hair, face and clothes were all really messy and dirty. He reminded me more of a homeless person than one of the most powerful people in Japan.

I looked up and down his figure to determine if he was wearing any weapon or something which could be a meaning of escape. Luckily, or unluckily as how you would look at the situation, he didn´t have anything he could use on me, or anything I could use to escape.

I stared up at him for a moment before my patience was out.

"Why have you kidnapped me?" I asked angrily as I stared up at him, dead afraid of course, but trying not to let it show.

He smirked down at me and slowly walked over to where I lied, sitting down on his knees and taking grab of my chin, forcing my vision up at him.

"I´m simply doing this for revenge my friend" He mumbled as he looked down at me with an arrogant and psychopathic look on his face.

"We´re not even close to being friends you psycho!" I growled out towards him, trying to act as brave and big as I could, puffing out my chest aggressively.

He simply chuckled at this though, as if it was all one big joke to him. His way of taking the situation really infuriated me, and if I hadn´t feared for my life I would probably be yelling at him at the top of my lungs by now. Even though that probably only would make the situation worse.

"Listen kid." He shortly and simply stated before glaring at me.

"Stop trying to pretend you´re so brave. I´m the one at control, not you, so I would treat my kidnapper with a bit more respect don´t you think?" he stated as he pulled out a giant steel knife and brought it closer and closer to my right cheek.

He gently graced my cheek with the cold steel, but however gently he had graced it, it would still have hurt me. A very fine and clean slice was made on my cheek, and red beads slowly took form, running into each other and forming a single big drop of blood, which ran down my cheek, painting my face crimson red.

"Get that filthy thing away from me!" I snapped at him, gritting my teeth even more as I could feel my face consort in anger and fear.

It scared me how aggressively my body reacted to Sugou´s presence and signals he sent me. He looked down at me with a raise of his eyebrow.

"Didn´t I tell you to respect your kidnapper?" He growled aggressively as he pressed the metal down onto the wound he had just created, deepening it further.

I flinched and dug my upper teeth down into my lower lip, to not scream or yell in pain. It only partly succeeded though as I couldn´t stop a couple of moans escaping my lips.

"You´re not fun to torture anymore Kazuto. Where did all the screams go?" Sugou asked silently with a mad giggle as he pulled the knife away from my face and stabbed it into a holed and rotten nightstand table nearby.

"But don´t worry. I will make sure this gets interesting. "He said as he smirked and cracked his knuckles, in an attempt to put me on the edge of my seat.

This was only the beginning.

_~ Asuna´s POV, the Yuuki residence. ~_

I hadn´t seen Kazuto since he stormed away from the meeting between us and our parents a couple of hours ago. I had tried to call him just to calm him down, but he wouldn´t pick up his phone.

"Weird… He always picks up…" I thought as I sat on my bed in my room.

I sighed a bit and furrowed my brow. I was starting to get worried. Why wouldn´t he pick up his phone?

I frowned even more as I made my way down into the living room, where my father was currently reading the paper and drinking his coffee, like always. This was mostly what he made his afternoon pass with.

I sighed and dumped down into one of the comfy chairs of the living room, putting my head in my hands in deep thought. I was getting more and more worried every passing second, and apparently, it was showing, because my father suddenly asked me.

"Asuna, are you ok?" I could hear worry in his voice.

I snapped my face up from my hands and looked up at him, trying to force a smile on my lips.

"Y-Yeah everything is fine." I said as happily as I could.

I knew it wasn´t good enough though. He looked up from his paper, frowned a bit, and raised an eyebrow at me, almost to make me feel guilty for lying to him.

"Asuna you´re about as good at lying as your mother is at not working" He said with a serious tone.

"Just tell what is wrong. You know you can tell me anything." He said with a soft smile as he put down his newpaper and looked at me.

I sighed a bit and nodded slowly.

"It´s just Kazuto haven´t replied to any of my calls… I´m worried." I said as I looked at my father worriedly. '

He seemed shocked for a moment before looking down thoughtfully.

"hmm… Yeah that is not like him…" He mumbled as he rubbed his chin. I could almost see the gears in his head turning from thought.

"Well… He seemed pretty angry when we last saw him right?" He asked as he finally looked up at me. "Maybe he just wants to be alone…"

"I seriously doubt that father… If he ever is angry he always calls me… Something is seriously wrong…" I mumbled as I looked downwards worriedly.

"Well the police won´t make a missing search before there has gone 24 hours… So let´s wait and see if he should contact us by then, alright?" My dad mumbled as he stood up and walked over to where I was seated, ruffling my hair a bit.

"Don´t worry, everything is fine" He said, trying to seem as convincing as he could. I could still feel that he was somewhat worried though, so it didn´t seem all that convincing.

I nodded a bit and hummed in agreement, looking out the window of the living room.

"I hope you´re right dad… I really do…" I mumbled as I stared out at one particular star, that was shining even brighter than the others. I had heard that people sometimes wish upon a star when they need something or worry about something.

"Not a bad idea to at least try…" I mumbled as I walked over to the window and sat down on my knees, folding my hands.

"God… Please don´t let anything happen to him…" I mumbled as I closed my eyes, a single tear running down my left cheek. I sobbed a bit and wiped my tear before sitting up again, and walking towards the stairs for the second floor.

"I will go to bed early today dad… Goodnight" I mumbled as I passed my dad in the hallway.

He looked at me in surprise but his expression turned understanding before he nodded a bit and smiled.

"Sleep well princess. Don´t worry we will find him soon enough" He said with a convinced nod. I forced a small smile onto my lips and nodded before sighing and heading upstairs, my head clouded with worried thoughts.

~ Unknown location, Kazuto´s POV ~

I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists as I could once again hear silent mumbling outside in the hallway outside my room. There was two voices now. I could clearly hear that one of them belonged to my kidnapper Sugou. The other seemed familiar, but I was not sure I knew who it belonged to. I could hear that it was female though, and I felt like I had heard it before. Somewhere.

I could feel how my face contorted itself in fear and worry as the creaky door slowly slided open, to reveal Sugou and another person, whose face was covered by a dark hood. It almost felt like my teeth was about to explode from the pressure my body put on them. It was not pleasant.

"So this is the one.." The hooded figure whispered as she turned my way, with a wry smile.

I looked up at the hooded figure and clenched my fist, a nervous drop of sweat making it´s way down my forehead and down to my eye. Since I was tied up I couldn´t wipe it away, and it really irritated me. Maybe that was one of the reasons my voice was so aggressive when I yelled at the new figure who had appeared from the dark hallways outside the even darker room I was now presently lying in.

"Who the hell are you!?" I growled and snapped at her with my neck. The hooded figure simply giggled, which suddenly turned into a mad laughter.

"Oh you know me Kirito… All too well…" The hooded figure mumbled maniacally. "But I won´t let you see my face. It´s gonna be a surprise" She said childishly and excitedly as she brought her hooded head closer to my own face. This was when I realised the girl, or woman, had her mouth and nose covered by some kind of mask, so even if she did take off her hood I would still not be able to see who she was.

"What´s wrong? Too scared to not show your face?" I asked with a grunt as I stared at the person angrily. She simply giggled and sighed.

"I´m not the one scared here. You are." She said with another giggle as she walked over to a table to my right, where numerous weapons and sharp objects were spread out.

"Just don´t worry. I will reveal the truth for you sometime" She said silently as she picked up a huge knife, examined it and then put it back down.

I could feel how my breath got deeper out of desperation. My eyes began desperately darting around the room, examining it for any means of escape for what must have been the fifth time. I already knew I couldn´t escape however, if I didn´t find a way to cut the ropes that bound me the chair. I noticed a couple of splinters sprawled out on the ground, but I doubted there would be any that would be sharp enough.

My eyes darted around the room a final time before I gave up to find an escape route. I stopped resisting for now and slumped my body down on the chair.

"Here let me help you" Sugou said maniacally as he put my chair against a wall, so I at least sat up again. I lazily let my head fall downwards. I didn´t even want to look at him anymore. My mind was only set on one thing, and that was to get the hell out of this creepy place, so I could get home, and reassure Asuna that I was not hurt. Thinking about her made a smile appear on my lips, and it gave me new hope.

And I wasn´t going to give up this easily.

**A/N**

**Hey guys!**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**Sorry for it being a little shorter but once again, and what a surprise it is, I have been hit by a writers block, and in addition to that I still have to think about my exams. **

**So pardon me for letting the quality suck if it does. I will try to make it better next time.**

**Hope you enjoyed and see you next time.**


	5. Chapter 5 - Torture For Show

_Sword Art Online _

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 5 – Torture for Show_

_~A warehouse in the outskirts of town. Kazuto´s POV~_

I blinked my eyes open and looked around the dark room I was currently held captive in. The room was as gross and dark as ever, and I hated the place ever so much. I just wanted everything to be over. To finally escape from SAO, ALO and the events three years ago. To finally stop being reminded of the horrible things I had to go through. But some people just wanted to rub salt in my wounds.

In the middle of the room, Sugou and the hooded stranger stood with a small box tv between them. Sugou smirked as he presented a small tv remote from his coat pocket.

"What are you going to do with that?" I asked as I frowned a bit of worry.

My frowning and angry body language was only met with a psychotic smile from Sugou, and an arrogant huff from the unknown female figure.

"Shut up and be a good boy as we set up" Sugou said as he began plucking several cables into a powerbank.

As he finished setting up he began zapping through several channels, until he finally stopped on a channel, purely consisting of TV static.

"Aww no sports?" I said provokingly, as I looked at Sugou with a daring glare. He returned the gesture with an annoyed growl.

"Very funny. Try to keep that mood up when we actually get to work. I´ll consider it a challenge" He said as he then set on to present a whip, and several other weapons from a box in the corner, lying all of the weapons on the small wooden table.

I looked at the table terrified. I could feel how my eyes automatically widened and my breathing got faster and ragged as my fear rose.

"If you touch me I swear to god, Shousou-San will get you both arrested!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

The two freaks simply laughed at my statement.

"Hah! That old fool!? He would have worked under me if he didn´t get that job before me!" Sugou stated with a psychopathic smirk.

"You have no idea how powerful Sugou really is Kazuto-Kun." The female stated softly as she walked over and traced her finger along my cheek "How do you think he escaped a high security prison?"  
I growled aggressively as she touched my cheek and I bit out towards her fingers.

"Don´t ever touch me again you freak!" I hissed through my front teeth.

"Wow, he thinks he is dangerous huh!?" She said teasing me as she giggled a bit.

"If I didn´t know you don´t have any power in the real world, I would be afraid of you, black swordsman-Sama." She mumbled as she traced the wound on my cheek Sugou had inflicted on me the night before.

I snapped at her again before she went back to Sugou and the TV, and I slumped down back down into my chair. What the hell were they doing anyway?

_~At the Yuuki Residence. Asuna´s POV~_

Now Kazuto had been missing for more than 24 hours, so my dad had finally gotten through to the police, and made them file a missing report. I was starting to get sick with worry, and I didn´t try to hide it. I paced back and forth, back and forth between the living room and the kitchen, to the point where my parents were worried I would make a hole in the floor from all the pacing I had done.

Even my brother, who normally were on business trips constantly and therefor were almost never home, had canceled all his meetings and business trips when he heard the news, and had taken the first available plane home to be around and comfort me.

And it was not like I didn´t appreciate his will to be there for me when I needed him, it´s just that it didn´t really help. I was still as nervous and scared for my boyfriend´s safety as before, and my brother´s presence certainly didn´t help quelling some of the dark and horrible thoughts that ran through my head.

Even my mother, who normally wouldn´t show emotion, and who was normally cold like ice, showed concern and pity for me. She even decided to help me find Kazuto. One of her friends who worked for the news station in town owed her a favor, and so my mother made sure that Kazuto´s missing report would be sent in TV as much as possible, for as long as possible from now on.

I was truly happy for their concern about me, and I really DID appreciate their willing to help. But it didn´t really help me quelling my dark and scared thoughts about what might have happened to Kazuto. Somehow I just couldn´t convince myself that Kazuto was fine. The fact that I had contacted his aunt and cousin, and they didn´t know where he was either.

I had used all of that morning calling all of my friends, asking them if they had seen Kazuto. My search came up short, and I had only received little information, like where they had last seen him, what mood he had been in at the time, etc. etc. Everyone had promised to help in the search though, so that´s always something.

I decided to try the last option I could think of to stop my train of thoughts, and turned on the TV, hoping to be able to pry my thoughts off of him for just a second at least. But what I saw on the screen only made me all the more terrified and afraid of me and my boyfriend´s situation.

On the screen an all too well known face popped up. Though his face was covered in wounds and dirt I could easily recognize those serpent like eyes, and that psychotic smile. It was definitely Sugou, out of prison and as lively as ever as far as I could tell.

I backed away from the TV a bit and put both my hands over my mouth to prevent the scream I was about to let out from escaping my lips. I stared at the TV screen terrified. How had that psychotic bastard escaped prison!? How!?

"Hello again Yuuki-san. You must be dying to know what happened to your sweet sweet Kazu-kun right?" He whistled through his teeth, while licking his upper lip like a maniac.

"What have you done to him you bastard!?" I growled as I stepped forward towards the screen, now that my fear for a moment had turned into anger.

He simply smirked and stepped a couple of steps aside, and to my horror I now saw a hooded figure, standing beside a bound Kazuto on a chair, with a giant knife in one hand, and a whip in the other.

"No please… Don´t hurt him.." I mumbled as I fell to my knees and could feel how the tears began welling out of my eyes. I could do nothing but sit and watch as the hooded figure brought the knife closer and closer to Kazuto´s arm, then slowly but surely began slicing small cuts along his entire upper arm.

I could see how painful it was for Kazuto, and how desperately he tried to keep in his screams of pain. Every time as the cold blade would even touch his skin he would winch, and let me feel more and more guilty for not having followed him when he stormed away from us in the park two days ago.

I felt so hopeless, and meaningless. If I couldn´t even protect my significant other as I had promised him in SAO all those years ago, then what was I worth? He must have felt so abandoned and alone. I was a terrible girlfriend.

My family had apparently heard my crying, because all of a sudden they stood by my side, asking me what was wrong. When they finally realised what was happening they crowded around the TV, like moths to a flame, deeply in shock and anger of what took place right in front of their eyes.

"Sugou you bastard! You´ll pay for making my sister cry!" My brother shouted angrily as he aggressively punched a vase of flowers on a small table. The vase hit the wall and exploded into a million pieces before landing on the ground. I stared at him, but only for a couple of seconds before I pulled my gaze back onto the screen.

"It seems it´s the black swordsman to be rescued this time. Be sure to fulfill your promise to him Yuuki-san" The hooded figure stated as she made another cut in Kazuto´s arm, earning another winch from him and a small tear rolling down his cheek.

"Meet me and my partner on the address that will be emailed to you shortly. Oh and Mr. and Mrs. Yuuki-" He trailed off as he moved his gaze from me to my parents.

"Don´t even think about bringing the authorities. Only the yuuki family can be present at this meeting. You have a week to show yourselves" He said with a evil smirk as he grabbed out for a remote that lied on a table beside my bound hero.

Before he turned off whatever he was transmitting from right now, I heard an ear screeching plea from Kazuto.  
"Don´t go Asuna! Please for the love of god don´t go there!" Before the TV went dead, and everything turned quiet.

~Meanwhile, Kazuto´s POV~

I gritted my teeth and widened my eyes in fear as the hooded figure brought the huge knife closer and closer to my right arm. Then she proceeded to slice my arm over and over again. My soft flesh was easily opened up by the razor sharp and cold metal that was her knife, and it hurt like crazy. I couldn´t keep some tears escape my eyes. They slowly rolled down my face.

Seeing my girlfriend on that little screen on the TV in front of me was maybe even more painful than my arm. She immediately broke down in tears and began begging for them to stop, but they just continued to torture me in front of her, like I was just their playtoy. Like I had no soul or feelings, if I was just a dead thing they needed to get rid of. They had hurt my family and me for the last this. It was decided. I was going to get my revenge. Somehow.

I was staring at the small TV screen and winched over and over again, the pain waves and tears obscuring my vision more and more as the torture session progressed. When the pain finally subsided for a while, and I heard how Sugou made terms for Asuna and her family could save me. When I heard he wanted them at a specific location, I realised he might have a trap ready for them.

I decided that Asuna and her family´s lives were more worth then mine and pleaded for them to stay away. Sugou turned off the TV and looked at me angrily.

"We told you to shut the fuck up!" Sugou yelled angrily as he grabbed my arm and smashed it down onto the wooden table, stabbing the knife deep into the palm of my hand.

I could no longer handle the pain and screamed loudly, tears falling down my cheeks like waterfalls. A warm red liquid began flowing down my arm and onto the floor, generating soft plop sounds whenever a blood drop would hit the ground. A small pool of blood was quickly formed beneath the table, and the intense pain almost made me faint. I wish I had. I just wanted it to be over.

But whenever I felt like I was about to lose consciousness and be relieved of the pain, the exact same intense pain would yank me back to my senses before I could follow through. The pain was so torturous. I wished for it to be over. The only thing that kept me from wanting to die, was the fact that I had promised Asuna I would protect her forever. And I intended to keep that promise.

So focusing on that single promise, and focusing on enduring the pain, I managed to block out some of the intense pain waves that washed all over my body, over and over and over again. My blood that covered the new wound in my arm felt like hot water against ice cold skin. And it definitely wasn´t pleasant.

The intense pain and my salty tears did however blur my vision, and tone down my hearing, just like it had when I was tortured in ALO. It sounded like the next words that came out of Sugou´s mouth came from far away.

"If you don´t behave we have to punish you" That was the words that was spoken to me by that complete psychopath.

"I will never… Do as you tell me you bastard!" I yelled loudly through my tears and moaning.

He smirked a bit and laughed hysterically as he pushed my chair against a wall.

"You´ve got guts kid I will give you that much" He mumbled as he looked over at the female figure.

"Come on. Our work here is done for now" He mumbled as they both exited the small room.

I panted a bit of my exhaustion and pain, but smirked a bit and chuckled. The fact that Sugou had yanked so violently in my arm was his biggest mistake yet. Cause this gave a chance to escape.

He had yanked so violently in my arm when he smashed it onto the table that it had become loose from the duct tape that held me bound to the chair I was sitting on. He had given me just enough space to yank my arm free completely, through enormous pain of course, and reach the knife had put on the small table. I smirked a bit as I picked up the knife but flinched a bit as my wound rubbed against the duct tape.

I panted a bit and smiled a little as I silently began cutting the duct tape, already planning in my head how I would approach the situation and escape the building I was captured in, without myself or anyone else getting hurt anymore.

My smile grew wider as I finally sliced the final layers of duct tape, and stood up from the chair, wobbling a bit as the intense pain had made me somehow lightheaded. I hold onto my arm a bit and sighed. It had somewhat lost some of it´s feeling in my fingers, but it wasn´t something too serious. I just had to bind it with something. Some of the duct tape I had lied over the arm of the chair would have to do for the time being.

"I´m coming Asuna" I mumbled with a soft smile as I took a deep breath and sneak down the dark hallways.

~Some Time Later~

I was making my way down the crowded sidewalk. I had to be careful not to make any more horrible waves of agony pulse through my arm and out through the rest of my body, so I was stepping slowly and carefully, afraid of the pain that might come if I was not careful. I knew though that if I didn´t hurry back to Asuna so her and her family could get me some medical attention, I would eventually bleed out. And then I might as well be dead.

Luckily me and Asuna had gone on so many dates past the last year that we had practically explored all of the city, so I knew the street I was currently limping down. If only I could find the right sidestreet to walk onto, I should be able to find Asuna´s home.

"Come on! Where is it!?" I groaned angrily and desperately to myself as I turned my head left and right in a fit of frustration.

"Come on! It´s a fucking mansion it can´t be that hard to find!" I mumbled again as I began to feel dizzy and began woppling in my footsteps, constantly falling over my own feet.

I widened my eyes and gasped of relieve as I finally saw the familiar building in the distance, a couple of hundred meters ahead.

"Great! " I mumbed to myself in success as I stumbled onto the porchstep and clumsily stumbled inside and collapsed in a heap on the floor. My vision began fading as several shaded figures loomed over me, one particularly known to me with her golden brown locks of hair hanging over my face like a curtain, before I smiled a bit and weakly closed my eyes, with a certain voice screaming my name.

~Meanwhile, Asuna´s POV~

I opened my eyes and yanked my head up in surprise as I woke up from my slumber. After what I had just witnessed on the screen I didn´t think I would ever be able to sleep peacefully again. But somehow, after Sugou and Kazuto had disappeared from the screen, my parents, after angry biggering about how to approach this situation, had somehow calmed me down. And I guess the mixed negative feelings and my calmed down state had made me fall asleep somehow.

But now I was suddenly ripped out of my not so peacdeful sleep, by some bumping sound out in the entranceway. I grew curious of what it was, and softly made my way out in the entranceway. The sight before me both relieved me and terrified me at the same time.

In the hallway, sprawled out unceremoniously, was my loving and caring boyfriend, bleeding badly from his wounds along his arm, and to my horror a deep hole in the palm of his left hand. The sight made me clasp both my hands on my mouth in horror, before I rushed over to his side, and put his head in my lap for support.

"Mom, dad! HELP!" I yelled loudly in desperation, my parents and brother soon rushing to me and Kazuto´s side, all looking down at him terrifedly.

"I´m going to call an ambulance" my dad mumbled softly as he flipped out his phone and dialed, 119. I looked down at Kazuto, who softly and weakly smiled, before he let his head go limp, and he passed out. I teared up and softly sobbed as I heard the sirens from far away, and minutes later watched over Kazuto as I sat with him in the ambulance, on the way to one of the most restless and painful nights of my life.

**A/N**

**Hey guys! IM BACK BABY!**

**It feels so good to be back! Hope you guys liked the latest chapter. As promised I will keep writing chapters for all my fanfics in this summer vacation, so don´t worry. And the schedule is just as normal. One chapter of each fanfic every Sunday, so look forward to much more writing and reading.**

**Also a big thank you to Moshita for giving the idea of letting Asuna watch Kazuto get tortured. Do please tell me if anyone has any ideas like this as well.**

**Hope you liked the chapter, and read you next chapter my dragonlings!**

**See you next Sunday!**


	6. Chapter 6 - Blurred Lights

Sword Art Online

After The Incident

Chapter 6 – Blurred Lights

~Kazuto´s POV~

The next few moments felt like a dream. Everything I saw in those moments came to me like blurry visions. First I was being carried out to an ambulance, which lights were blurred before my eyes. Then darkness. Another blurry vision showed my girlfriend watching over me in a tiny room. Then darkness again. The next time I opened my eyes I saw a brightly lit room with an IV on my left side, and a heartbeat monitor on my right. I widened my eyes a bit as I realised this.

Had my condition really been that bad?

I looked around me with sloppy eyes and tried rubbing something out of my eyes. It was then that I realised I had an oxygen mask over my mouth. I tried speaking but nothing but muffled sounds came out of my mouth. I guess I was still weak from the treatment I had received.

At the far end of the room to the right, sat a nurse by a desk, and typed like crazy on a computer. When she realised I was talking she spun around in her chair with a surprised look on her face. Her expression would have made me laugh if I hadn´t been as weak as I was. She rushed over to my side and smiled.

"Mr. Kirigaya, please don´t move" She mumbled softly. "Your body need to recover"

I looked up at her with a nod and made another attempt of speaking.  
"Can´t I at least… Take off the mask?" She shook her head at my question.

"If you were to pass out again it´s important that you can breathe" She said as she took a notebook, and began scribbling something.

I sighed a bit and nodded as I stared up at the white and grey ceiling of my hospital room.

"Contact… My family…" I mumbled softly, and the nurse did as told, but not before contacting several doctors, who soon were at both my sides, watching over me, keeping track of my condition.

It was irritating to see how they were buzzing around me like flies. I honestly wanted them to go away and leave me alone so I could begin looking forward to seeing my family again. But then again I knew they had kept me alive through this whole scheme, and for that, I was grateful. So I almost began feeling guilty for getting pissed at them.

Luckily they were soon finished checking me up, and as they were certain my condition had been stabilized, they removed the heart beat monitor, and the IV that had stood by me. To my happiness they also removed the oxygen mask, which made it a bit easier for me to speak.

"So, where is everyone? Like, my family?" I asked softly, surprised not to see Asuna by my side, like I had seen in the ambulance.

"Well, the Yuuki family went home after a couple of hours" She said with a stern expression. "Asuna-san fell asleep after watching over you a couple of hours, so her parents took her home"

I nodded a bit at this and sighed a bit. This didn´t surprise me the least. They always put their daughters safety first, so when she fell asleep, it´s not surprising they would take her home.

"Ok. How about my own family?" I asked softly "Like, my cousin and aunt?"  
"They are already on their way." She said with a reassuring smile "I called them a couple of minutes ago"

I sighed and nodded in relief.

"Good to know…" I mumbled softly. "I think I should be with my family some more… "

It was true. Throughout the last year I hadn´t seen my cousin and aunt much. All my head had been filled with was my nightmares, how I would get through school, make New Sao, and be with my girlfriend. Several mornings I had almost flown out of the door because I had so many things to take care of. I had been very stressed, and it hadn´t just had a negative effect on me, but my friends and family as well.

I decided then and there that I would spend more time with everyone, and take a break from working on New Sao, and think less about homework and school. That could all wait. Now I had to be there for my family and friends, like they had been there for me. It was time for me to return the favor.

My train of thoughts was interrupted as the door to my room suddenly opened, revealing my cousin and aunt rushing inside, teary eyes and scared expressions on their faces. My aunt immediately hugged me close as she sobbed.  
"Oh god Kazuto!" She cried as she hugged me close to her "never scare me like that again"

I nodded a bit and smiled as I wrapped her in a hug.

"I´m fine. Really i´m fine." I mumbled as she hugged me tighter and tighter. It was almost like she never wanted to let go.

Behind me stood my sister/cousin. She timidly stood and rubbed her arm as she watched her mother hugging the life out of me. When my aunt finally let go of me I looked over at my sister.

"Come here" I mumbled softly and she immediately obliged, hugging me just as close as her mother had just done.

I smiled a bit and wrapped my eyes around her waist, as she forgot everything about timidness and broke down in tears. I hugged her tighter and tighter, trying to calm her down with a couple of pads on the back of her head.

"Shh I'm not dead. I´m right here" I mumbled softly as she nodded a bit "I´ll be there from now on, ok?"

She simply nodded as an answer and kept holding me close, and I did the same. I owed her to be there for her from now on. So that´s what I was going to do.

She softly let go of me and wiped her tears.

"You really know how to attract danger don´t you? " She asked as she smiled a bit.

I chuckled a bit and sighed.

"Hey it´s not like I want to" I said as we all laughed a bit. I then cleared my throat and looked at them with a serious expression.

"This near death experience has made me realize something" I mumbled as they looked at me.

"I haven´t been there enough for you guys. From now on I'm going to take a break, calm down, and be with you and the rest of my family some more. Sound good?" And I received excited and happy nods from the both of them.

We all hugged one last time before we began discussing when could go home.

"You may have been stabilized, but you need to stay here for a couple of days" Sugu mumbled as she looked at me.

I nodded a bit in response and sighed a bit as I looked at my arm that had been bandaged when I was knocked out.

"It´s not a surprise considering how I was treated" I mumbled in regret.

"Yeah. The doctors said you had lost 2.5 liters of blood" my aunt said worriedly.

"I'm sorry to ask Kazuto but.. what happened?" Suguha asked softly

"Well, it´s not easy to talk about but…" I mumbled as I began telling them exactly what had happened, from when I was kidnapped, to how I somehow managed to escape and make it home.

As I told them everything, I made sure to keep out the details about much pain I had gone through, so they wouldn´t worry as much.

"Well, what is important is that you´re safe now. " Suguha said with a cheery smile.

I nodded a bit and smiled back at her "yeah that´s true"

"Well, I need to get back to work but Suguha will stay here and take care of you ok?" My aunt mumbled as she kissed my forehead.

"Stay safe Kazuto" she said as she walked out after waving with a look over her shoulder.

The door behind her slowly closet shut, as I could hear how the click clock´s of her high heels made it´s way down the hall, and soon disappeared down the hall inside.

"You know, you have been out for three days." Suguha suddenly spoke as I looked at her in surprise.

"Really? It only felt like a few moments" I mumbled as I scratched my head wonderingly.

"Well the human mind is weird isn´t it?" I suddenly heard from the door once again, a deep and manly voice sounded.

In surprise, I yanked my head away from Suguha and focused on where the voice had come from. And in the door stood all my wonderful friends, smirking or teary eyed of worry. Everyone ran over and hugged me in a huge group hug, filled with happy laughter and silent sobbing.

"H-Hey guys watch my arm please" I said with a chuckle as I did my best to hug everyone back in the commotion.

"Good to see you guys" I said with a smile.  
"We simply had to see if Asuna´s black armoured knight was ok" Liz said with a smirk.

I answered this with a pout and a blush from embarrassment.

"Hey guys uhm.." I mumbled softly "I know I haven´t been there for you guys lately and uhmm... I´m sorry..."

"Dude, it´s ok. We know how you have been working your ass off" Klein said as he cheekily thumbed up.

"Yeah. Everyone is just happy that you´re ok" Scilica said with a hapy smile.  
I nodded a bit in response and smiled at everyone.

"Well from now on, I will make sure to be with you guys some more, ok?" And everyone nodded and hummed in agreement.

"Sounds good" Agil said as he put a bag on a nightstand nearby.

"Oh, and this is "Get well" gifts from all our friends. They heard about what happened" He said as he smiled at me.

"I really have the best friends in the world don´t i?" I said with a smile, and everyone chuckled or giggled.

"You bet your ass you have!" Liz said with a cocky smirk "So don´t go and worry them again, you hear me?" And I nodded in response "I won´t. That´s a promise."

"Hey, where is Asuna?" I asked softly and looked around "Shouldn´t she be here with you?"

"Sell Kazuto, she is still sleeping. She is exhausted from worry bro" Klein mumbled.

"Yeah I guess she is really worried." I mumbled a bit sadly "Well let´s not bother her anymore today. Let her sleep" I mumbled as I slowly sat up.

"good idea. Now, explain who the hell did this to you" Agil mumbled as he sat down beside my bed. I then proceeded to tell the story again, from the beginning once again.

"That bastard… Of course it´s Sugou" Liz said as she cracked her knuckles loudly.

"Well, let´s not worry about him right now" Agil said softly "We want to settle down and relax right now. Thinking of Sugou isn´t going to help us"

"I agree. I don´t want to think about him right now" I said with a serious expression.

"Well, were going to stay here as long as we can and keep you company! Ok?" Scilica said happily.

"Thanks Scilica. Thank you all" I mumbled as I smiled at everyone.

~A couple of days later, at the park~

I was standing beneath the thick branches of the giant Sakura tree in the park. I was currently waiting for my girlfriend. For Asuna. The first day after I was hospitalized she had called me first thing in the morning. The next couple of days we had only been talking over the phone, since she was busy with school and her social life. So she hadn´t had time to visit me in the hospital. And I knew she was sad about it.

So we had agreed to meet up after school first thing Friday. And it was 15.30 by now. I knew that the students at me and Asuna´s school was free 15.00 on the spot. And it took about 20 minutes to walk to the park from there. So she was a little late but not anything to worry about.

I was leaning against the trunk of the giant tree, a faint breeze wafting over me. This breeze sent several tree leaves through the air above me, and made the grass and flowers make a soft and calming sound around me. This whole scene reminded me of something from a romantic movie or something.

When I heard soft footsteps approaching I look up from my phone and smiled. It was Asuna that approached me. The breeze wafted her hair outwards from her head, making it flutter beautifully in the wind. She smiled a bit as she saw me, and approached me slowly. She stopped in her tracks and smiled as she watched me.

"Hey…" I mumbled softly I watched her, smiling at her.

"Hey you…" She mumbled back as she took another step towards me.

"I was scared you know…" She mumbled softly, and I looked at her with a sad smile.

"I know you were…" I said softly and sadly "I´m sorry for worrying you…"

She shook her head and ran before jumping into my arms, hugging me tight.

"I would rather worry this much then not live with you" She mumbled before pulling me towards her and kissing my lips softly.

I smiled and happily kissed her back, cupping her face in my hands as we embraced in the warm breeze surrounded us. I smiled as I felt her warmth once again, and I could feel how my own being heat up in her presence. These feelings. She was the one person in the world that could make me feel like this.

I smiled a bit and looked into her eyes as we parted away from each other. She smiled back before wrapping her arms around my waist and giggling, as she pushed me down in the grass.

"I missed you so much…" She mumbled softly as she lied on top of me.

I blushed a little as I stared up at her, and she giggled a little as she intertwined the fingers on our hands.

"What is it?" She asked teasingly and I embarrassedly looked away.

"W-Well it´s just… I have never seen you like this before" I mumbled as I could feel my face heat up.

She giggled more and grazed my not injured cheek with her slender fingers, creating a tickling sensation.

"Well… Do you want me to stop?" She whispered sugar sweetly as she brought her face closer and closer to mine.

"hehe uhmm I-I'm not saying that" I mumbled a bit as I looked her in the eyes.

"Well then…" She mumbled as she grabbed my collar and kissed me aggressively.

I immediately obliged and smiled as I kissed her back, but was surprised as I felt something different in this kiss then the previous we had shared.

Her tongue. She suddenly began to French kiss me! I hesitated a bit and blushed deep red, and she blushed a bit as she stopped kissing me and parted from me.

"W-What? Y-You didn´t like it?" She mumbled sadly as she looked down at me.

"N-No that´s… Not it…" I mumbled a little "I-I was just uhmm surprised you know?"

She looked down at me a little surprised.

"Huh? Surprised?" She said as she looked at me with a small smile.

"W-Well normally you don´t uhmm act like that…" I mumbled embarrassedly, not sure what to say.

"W-Well it seemed like the moment to do it so uhhh…" Now she was the one getting embarrassed.

"U-Uhmm c-can I continue?" She asked almost whispering, her cheeks bright red from embarrassment.

I could no longer speak from embarrassment and simply nodded, silenced by my embarrassment. She smiled a bit and nodded, before lowering her body, and letting her lips meet mine once again. I let my lips part a bit so she had a bit more room, and she smiled a bit as she immediately advanced, burying her tongue in my mouth.

The only way to describe it, is like an excited dance, body parts in between. Our tongues circulated around each other excitedly, pleading for their owners to advance more and more. Our body language was the same, as we tried to get as close to each other as humanly possible, enjoying each other's presence and warmth.

After several seconds we parted from each other, and she smiled down at me shyly.

"W-Well that was an uhmm experience" She said with embarrassment clear in her voice.

I nodded a bit and smiled "Y-Yeah it was… I-It felt good though…" I mumbled as I smiled up at her and she nodded.

"I missed you when I was hospitalized" I said with a smile "it´s sad you´re so busy with everything…"

She nodded a bit and sighed as she lied down beside me, before squeezing my hand a little.

"I know Kazuto…" She mumbled softly "But at least i´m free this weekend so we can hang out"

"That´s great" I said excitedly "U-Uhmm you want to go on a date this weekend then?" I asked a bit embarrassed.

I was still not that good at asking Asuna out, even after a year of dating her. I always needed to man up my courage if I wanted to ask her out, but the good thing is she thinks my shyness was cute.

Her face lit up in a blush and we both smile as she nodded softly.

"That would be great Kazuto…" She mumbled softly as she leaned over to me and kissed me ever so deeply.

I smiled and kissed her back softly, letting the faint summer breeze warm us as we lied in the soft green grass under the Sakura Tree.


	7. Chapter 7 - Romance Is Dangerous

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 7 – The Threat_

~The Following Weekend, Kazuto´s POV~

It was Saturday. Finally. The last couple of days had felt like they went by with snail speed. I was so excited for me and Asuna´s date that it made the last couple of days feel like torture. And when we yesterday planned to eat a romantic dinner together at the local restaurant, my excitement only grew even more.

Now I was once again standing in front of my mirror, not sure what to put on. I was not sure if I should go casual or fancy, but I hadn´t asked Asuna about it. I had completely forgot it to be honest. So now I had to trust my instincts and try to guess what Asuna would appreciate me wearing.

On one side, it was a fancy dinner, and Asuna came from a wealthy family, so she would appreciate something like a suit. But on the other hand, a casual outfit would make the date less formal, which would make the date more fun for the both of us.

I had a hard time deciding which one, so I asked my sister Suguha for help. But she was about as clueless as I was.

"I can see your problem Kazuto" She mumbled softly as I held my two outfits up for her to see "I have a hard time deciding too"

"Yeah, I figured so" I mumbled softly as I looked at my two outfits hopelessly.

"Well, If I have to choose one, I think I would go with the suit" She finally said with a smile "You guys have had pretty casual dates right?"

That was right actually. The dates we had been on were dates where we had explored the city, and seeing the many attractions the city had to offer. These dates would mostly require a casual attire, not a suit.

"You´re right!" I said with a smile "We haven´t been to a restaurant in forever, so maybe I really should go with a suit"

Suguha nodded to this and turned on her heel.

"You´re welcome big bro" She said with a smirk before exiting my room, leaving me to change.

I smiled excitedly and hanged up my suit, before running to the bathroom to get a quick bath. I quickly rinsed myself down and exited the shower, before tidying up my hair and putting on deodorant, before walking into my bedroom and putting on my new clothes. Luckily, it was a black suit, which would do me nicely.

When I finished dressing up I looked at myself in the mirror again. I smirked a bit.

"Hey, you look good champ!" My aunt said as she entered my room to see how I was doing "Asuna is a very lucky girl you know"

"Hehe, if anyone is lucky," I said as I turned towards my aunt "It´s me for dating the most wonderful girl on the planet"

"You really have grown up you know?" She said with a smile "It feels like just yesterday you build your first computer from parts you had bought online"

"Mom, that was ages ago" I said with a small blush "Not to be rude or anything but I really have to go! See you later"

"Have fun Kazuto" She mumbled as she hugged me tightly, before I walked downstairs and out into the busy city street.

All the way to Asuna´s house, I could feel excitement and nervousness. I had no idea why I still felt like this, after a year of dating my dream girl. But every time I would be on my way to pick up my girlfriend, I would feel extremely nervous, if not excited. I guess it was just nerves. But I still couldn´t believe my feelings would show so much.

After a few minutes of walking, I finally arrived at Asuna´s house. I looked up at the looming building with a little hesitation. My nervousness had grown immensely since I left my own house. I swallowed my spit from nervousness and took a deep breath before walking up to the porch and ringing the doorbell, stepping back and fixing my hair before the door opened.

What I saw before me was a sight to enjoy. Asuna stood there with a slight blush on her face, wearing a long blood red dress, fitting her slim figure perfectly. The dress perfectly followed along her waist and hips, showing all her curves. Her lips was painted bright red with lipstick, and she was wearing a couple of earrings with blood red stones attached.

"So, how do I look?" She said with a smile as she twirled around. I realized her back was bare, showing off her cat-like shoulder blades.

"Y-You look so beautiful Asuna" I mumbled softly, stunned by her beautiful presence.

She giggled a bit at my astonishment "Well you pretty handsome as well" She said with a smile as she took a few steps forward and softly kissed my cheek.

I blushed a bit and cleared my throat as to pull myself out of my trance-like astonishment.

"W-Well we need to go now" I said, still blushing "Or they´ll give our table to someone else"

Oh, well we can´t let that happen, now can we?" She whispered in my ear as she took my hand with her left, holding her purse in her right and tugged me along.

"I-I guess not" I mumbled softly as I looked at her with a smile.

Before I managed to leave her family´s porch I was held back by her parents.

"You know I have said this before Kazuto" Shouzou said as he held my shoulder "But take good care of her ok?"

"Of course sir" I said with a smile "I will always protect your princess"

"Good to know boy" He said with a smirk as he hit my shoulder lightly and fatherly.

"Oh and, Kirigaya-kun?" Kyouko added as she stepped forward.

"yes ma´am?" I said as I looked back over my shoulder.

"I´m sorry I flipped on you at the park" She said as she bowed in respect "I kind of feel like your kidnapping is my fault"

"Don't be ma´am. " I said as I smiled back at her "I understand if you don't think our virtual daughter has feelings since she is virtual"

She looked at me with a worried expression.

"But, I ask of you for an opportunity to show you otherwise." I said with a smile "I ask you to give the virtual world a chance. If me and Asuna could show you the virtual world, we might convince you otherwise"

"Well, now is not the time for that" She responded with a warm smile. "GO have fun with our daughter ok? You really deserve it"

To that I nodded and walked down to Asuna who was waiting by the street.

"Oh, and Kyouko-san?" I said as I once again looked back at her "The kidnapping isn´t your fault. Sugou would have tracked me down anyway. Have a good night"

And with that I took off down the street with Asuna in tow, Kyouko and Shouzou-san watching us from the porch, arms wrapped around each other.

~A few minutes later, at the restaurant~

I smiled over at my girlfriend and she smiled back at me as we approached the restaurant building.

"Are you sure it´s ok for you to pay?" She said with worry in her voice "I mean, it´s a pretty expensive place"

"Asuna it´s fine" I said with a smile as I kissed her cheek "Let me spoil you for once! You deserve it"

"You always spoil me Kazuto" She said as she blushed and kissed me back "Come on then! Let´s get inside!"

"Just a moment! I need to check the time" I said with a smile "Go get our table. I´m there in a minute"

She shrugged a bit at this and nodded as she walked inside, her high heels click-clacking as she made her way inside.

I smiled a bit and looked at my jacket pocket.

"Yeah right. Like I care about the time right now" I said with a smile as I pulled the real reason for my staying back out of my pocket.

"Hey there buddy" I said to the beautiful gem necklace I had bought for Asuna, that was currently shining in it´s small wooden box in the palm of my hand.

"She is going to love it" I said with a smile "Even though it costed me mostly of my allowance. Oh well"

"I´m sure she is going to love it" A low but venom-like voice suddenly echoed from somewhere behind me.

All my hair in my neck began standing on end, and my body felt like it had been frozen at the spot. I knew that voice all too well. Somewhere in the crowd behind me, Sugou was watching my every move. I frowned and gritted my teeth as I listened intensely to every little sound.

"W-What do you want Sugou?" I growled angrily as I stood there, frozen, not even daring to turn my head.

"Oh nothing" An uninterested voice sounded "I just want you to know that I can strike everywhere, anytime. And your friends are not safe either"

I gasped a bit at these words. He would even attack my friends to get to me?!

"If you as much as touch them I will…" I growled angrily, looking downwards.

"What? Kill me? Good luck with that" The voice said, followed with a huff and a chuckle "Good luck finding me, or my assistant. I bid you farewell"

"Oh no you don´t you bastard!" I yelled as I finally manned up and turned around, but to no avail. My enemy had already disappeared into thin air, leaving only curious bystanders looking at me weirdly.

I blushed a little and fixed my jacket, before clenching my fists and making my way inside the restaurant.

"Damn asshole is trying to get into my head" I mumbled to myself as I spotted Asuna at a table by the big glass window in the back of the restaurant.

"I need to calm down" I mumbled a bit as I sat down across from Asuna and tried to put on the happiest fake smile I could manage.

"Hey Kazuto is everything ok?" She asked softly "You seem to be a little afraid"

"N-No i´m not!" I said defensively, maybe a little louder then I intended "I-I´m just nervous what you´re going to say about the gift I bought you"

I then smiled and proceeded to pull the wooden box out of my pocket and reach over the table, putting it down in front of her. She gasped a bit and smiled widely as she realised I had bought something for her.

"Kazuto you didn´t have to get me something" She mumbled softly as she hesitantly pulled the box towards her "Now I feel bad. I don´t have anything for you"

"It´s ok. I don´t need anything" I said with a smile ´Great. She doesn´t suspect anything´ I then thought to myself "Come on! Open it!"

Asuna then slowly opened the box, and I could see how her face lit up in happiness, her smile growing wider and tears beginning to form in the corner of her eyes.

"Oh my god Kazuto!" She yelped happily as she pulled out the necklace I had bought for her.

Tears begin triggling down her face as she stared at the gem in the middle of the necklace.

"It´s not only a gem though." I said with a smile "Try pushing the button the back"

She did as I told her, and the gem swung away from the base of the necklace, revealing a small room beside the gem. On the oak wood of the back of the necklace it said:

"_To my beautiful flash of red and white.  
May we forever be together._

_Love- Kazuto, your Knight in Black Armour"_

She put a hand on her mouth to stop her sobbing and I smiled at her from across the table.

"So do you like it?" I asked as I smiled. This was responded to with a silent sob as she jumped out of her seat and made her way over to me, almost strangling me in a hug.

"It is so perfect! I love it!" She yelped happily as she hugged me even tighter than before.

I chuckled a bit and hugged her back as tight as I could, for a moment forgetting how threatened I had felt a minute ago.

She finally let go of me and smiled as she dried her eyes, sitting down in her chair again.

"It must have costed a ton!" She mumbled as she sniffled a little, still drying her eyes.

I smirked a bit at her and chuckled.

"Anything to make you happy Asuna" I said as I looked into her eyes "If I can make you smile it´s worth it"

"Aww stop it" She mumbled as she giggled "you´re embarrassing me"

"It´s true you know" I mumbled as I looked at her with a sincere smile "I would sell everything I own just for five minutes with you"

"Aww come here" She said as she leaned over the table and kissed my cheek softly, making me blush just a little.

A waiter then came and took our orders "What would you like to drink?"

"I´ll be having wine" I said with a smile, to Asuna´s surprise.

"Huh!? Wine!?" She exclaimed as she looked at me with bright eyes.

"Yeah" I said with a smirk "It´s a romantic dinner. What is a romantic dinner without wine?"

"W-Well that´s true but…" Asuna mumbled as she looked at me worriedly "Have you even tried drinking alcohol before?"

"Nope. But there is a first time for everything" I said as the waiter wrote down my order and my drink.

"Yolo huh?" Asuna asked with a smile, and I chuckled a bit.

"Exactly my point"

"How about you miss?" The waiter then asked, turning to Asuna.

"I´ll have wine as well then" She said with a happy smile as the waiter bowed and made his way to the kitchen with our orders.

"I guess you have had wine before" I said gently "I mean, you have a pretty fancy family, so you must have been to a fancy party before"

"Yeah a couple of times." Asuna said with a nod "But even then my parents only allowed me a sip or two"

"Oh, well let´s try something new together shall we?" I said as I smiled at her, and she nodded.

"Sounds good." She said with a happy smile.

The waiter then returned to us with our drinks, put them down and left once again.

"Let´s have a wonderful date, ok Asuna?" I said as I raised my glass at her, and she did the same, sending a beautiful smile my way.

"To a wonderful date" She said with a smile, as we clinged our glasses together.

"To a wonderful date" I exclaimed happily as we both gulped down a couple of sips of our drinks.

~Later, at the beach nearby~

We were walking down the beach, hand in hand. The beautiful full moon was shining above us as the waves from the see rolled onto the soft sand of the beach, creating an almost whisper-like sound in our ears. Every now and again I would take a quick glance over at Asuna, smiling every time I did.

She was beautiful. Nothing could compare to how lovely she was. Even the shine of the moon in the water of the sea withered compared to how beautiful she was. I knew I was going to spend a long time together with her. If I had believed in a god, I would pray to him that I would be allowed to live the rest of my life with her. But I knew it didn´t take a gods power or a miracle to keep us together for an eternity. We loved each other more than anything in the world. And that love is stronger than anything else.

As I glanced over at Asuna once again she looked over at me and we both smiled at each other, as we stopped and turned towards the sea, Asuna laying her head on my shoulder.

"This has been the perfect date" Asuna mumbled as we sat down in the sand "Nothing could ruin this"

"Yeah. I know" I mumbled softly as I looked up at the bright shining moon.

´Except maybe the fact that Sugou is still at large` I thought to myself as I disappeared in my own thoughts.

`No. I don´t want to think about him right now` I thought to myself as I frowned a bit `I want this to be a memorable date. And I don´t want to ruin it with thinking about that bastard`

To take my mind off Sugou I sighed a bit and nuzzled up to Asuna, breathing in her scent and perfume.

"Hey! You´re using a new perfume" I mumbled as I smiled at her and she smiled back.

"Yeah. I thought I would try something new for our date" She said with an adorable giggle "Do you like it?"

"It smells wonderful. It fits you" I said as I wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

She smiled a bit and pecked my cheek softly.

"That´s good" She mumbled softly, and we fell into silence once again.

"Anyway, it´s getting late" I said after a moment of silence "Maybe I should get you home

"No, not yet" She mumbled as she pouted and shook her head childishly "I want this to last just a little bit longer"

"Ok. But only for ten minutes ok?" I said as I ran my fingers through her chestnut hair "You´re beginning to freeze anyway" I said as I realized she was shaking a bit.

"Mhmm." She mumbled as she nuzzled as close to me as she could, and I wrapped my arms around her body to keep her warm.

She smiled and hummed a bit of satisfaction as she let me warm her with my body.

Two young people sharing a beautiful moonlit night together. What could be better?

**A/N**

**Hey guys! **

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Somehow I don´t really have that much to say this time, so hope I see you next time!**

**Sayonara!**


	8. Chapter 8 - The Consequence of Fear

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 8 – The Consequence of Fear_

~Later that night, Kazuto´s POV~

I was currently walking down the streets, which at the time was mostly dead and free of people. I had just dropped Asuna off after one of our most romantic dates we had ever had in the year we had been together. It had been one of the best evenings of my life up till now. But now, that Asuna´s warmth and reassuring smile wasn´t near me anymore, worried and dark thoughts began haunting me once more.

Sugou and his assistant began appearing in my thoughts again. He had haunted my dreams and filled my head for over a year now. He kept coming back, night after night, and when he was finished destroying my dreams, he had set out to threaten me to hurt all I loved. Asuna, my mom, my sister, Klein, Lizbeth, Scilica, Agil… Everyone was in danger because of this man and his sick obsession of me.

I didn´t know what kept the man going either. If it was the thought of revenge of pure madness that drove that man to keep pursuing me, I didn´t know. But he certainly wouldn´t give up on me. He would chase me to the end of the world, and kill me, even if it was the end of him. And he would make sure to enjoy it when it finally happened. I had understood that much from his sick torture sessions.

I didn´t even know why he had captured me in ALO a year ago in the first place. Why he suddenly started torturing me out of nowhere. He was a complete stranger to me, and I had never even seen him before. His purpose for these complete insane and evil things he had done to me, was, for me, unknown. But one thing I did know was that he had to be stopped. I couldn´t live with these nightmares anymore. And I knew that they would only stop when Sugou was gone for good. That was the only time I would feel safe.

I finally arrived home after walking home from Asuna´s place, sloppily walking up the porch steps to my house. I slowly turned the doorknob and stepped inside, lazily kicking off my shoes as I made my way into the living room. It was 3 o clock in the morning, so I didn´t expect my family to be awake at the time, but I thought wrong.

"Kazuto?" A soft voice called out from the sofa, and suddenly the lights flickered on in the kitchen and the living room.

My aunt was sitting in the sofa, arms crossed and she was staring at me with a mad expression.

"You´re really late you know.." She mumbled softly as she looked away from me.

I sighed a bit and nodded softly.

"I know mom, and I'm so sorry…" I mumbled as I looked away shamefully "I know you´re worried about me… But the time ran away from us"

"It´s ok Kazuto." She mumbled as she got up from the sofa and hugged me close. "But next time, at least send me a text ok?" She said as she looked into my eyes.

"Oh god. Mom you´re crying!" I felt a sting in my chest as I realized my aunt was crying.

"Y-Yeah. I was so worried" She said as she sobbed a bit "I was worried something had… S-Something had…"

"i´m so sorry!" I said as it now was my turn to hug her close, trying to comfort my no sulking mother "It won´t happen again I promise!"

"That´s good to know honey" She said with a nod as she smiled at me and wiped her eyes "Now go to bed. You look like you´re sleepy"

I nodded a bit and sighed as I hugged her one last time before walking up the stairs towards my room. On the way there I passed Suguha´s room, stopped and looked at the half open door. I took a quick peek inside and saw Suguha, lying on her bed in her nightgown, with a worried expression on her face.

"She must have been just as worried as my aunt" I said as I looked downwards in shame "Better apologize to her tomorrow"

And with that I closed her door softly, to not wake her up, and walked the rest of the way down the hallway, closing my door behind me.

I lied down on my bed and sighed as I looked up into my roof.

"What a day…" I mumbled softly before I closed my eyes and instantly fell asleep.

~Another Nightmare~

I was lying down when I opened my eyes. A soft and mushy underground was lying under me, twigs and leaves prickling all over my body. I sat up and looked around as I rubbed the back of my head. I was in a forest of some kind. Dark and dank, a rotten smell in the air, irritating my nose. Just being here made my stomach curl up in disgust and fear. I gulped a little and looked around as I stood onto my feet.

The trees around me was rotten and dead, their bark lying just as dead and rotten by their roots. Bugs and filth was lying everywhere, and above my head was dark clouds and only a hint of moonlight through them every now and then,

I instinctively walked around to get the hell out of this creepy place as fast as I could. I walked along a narrow dirt road between the many dead trees. In the far distance I could hear a lone wolf howl for it´s pack, and in the trees I could hear an owl cry out in hunger.

After about five minutes of walking in the creepy forest, I suddenly arrived at a familiar place. It was me and Asuna´s log cabin from SAO! Everything was there! The lake and the mountains behind the cabin, and the wooden walkway along the shore of the lake. On the porch the wooden rocking chairs and the beautifully carved table was still standing, and the book we had been reading together on our last day of our vacation was still lying in our rocking chair.

Finally I had found something I recognized. I slowly walked up the steps to the porch, running my hand along the wooden surface of the railing. It was good to be back here again. But something felt off. Not only was the forest around our cabin completely dead from plant and animal life, but there was no one here besides me. The area that normally made me happy, now creeped me out completely.

I slowly made my way inside me and Asuna´s virtual home, walking into the living room. The furniture we had bought together for the remaining col we had saved up that day we bought the cabin was still standing where they had always stood, everything looked normal, down the smallest detail.

But I still had a nagging feeling that something was off.

"What is happening here…?" I mumbled to myself as I slowly walked upstairs, walking towards Yui´s room.

"Asuna? Yui?" I called out as I made my way down the hallway. "Where are you?"

I finally made my way to me and Asuna´s bedroom, which seemed like it took forever to reach. I hesitated a bit as I reached out for the doorknob. That feeling again. That ominous and dark feeling. It was much stronger than before. I had a bad feeling about entering my bedroom, feeling dread about what I would find there.

But I was too curious, and I had gone too far to back down now. I had to find my family, and this was the last place I could think of they had gone to. Going back wasn´t even an option any longer. I realized this as I stared down at the round doorknob, wondering if I should turn it or not. Finally I pulled myself together and turned the doorknob, slowly opening the light wooden door as I peaked inside our bedroom.

"Asuna!?" I smiled a bit and opened the door completely as I saw my girlfriend and virtual wife standing inside the room with her back turned to me, wearing a beautiful and light white silk nightgown. I smiled and gasped a bit as I finally found what I had been looking for all this time. The dreadful feeling was gone. At least for a while.

"Asuna, you ok?" I asked softly as I realized she didn´t respond to my voice like she usually would. I stepped up to her completely and took hold of her bare shoulders. Her skin was ice cold, and she seemed lifeless, almost like some kind of doll. What the hell was happening?!

I shook her shoulders lightly, almost as If I tried to wake her up.

"Asuna! You there!?" I said a bit desperate, scared of what might have happened to my wife.

She slowly turned around and revealed herself to me. And I was scared out of my mind.

She had a blank expression in her eyes and her skin was pale as a ghost. She was ice cold, like if she was…

"No.. No it can´t be true!" I yelled as I shook her shoulders in desperation "Asuna! Asuna wake up!"

My desperate plea was of no effect. She sighed and collapsed, falling into my arms with one last breath. Tears ran down my face and hit her cold cheeks, giving her face a slight warmth for just a moment. I hugged her close to me in a desperate attempt at getting her back but it was too late. She had already stopped breathing.

I cried so much that I didn´t even notice the looming figure approaching me from behind. I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my left shoulder, and I cried out in pain as I dropped Asuna´s dead body, falling down beside her, winching in pain. I looked up at my shoulder and realized it had been pierced by some kind of knife, with thorn like blades.

I widened my eyes at the bloody mess that had once been my shoulder, and winched as I sat up against the bedframe behind me. The shoulder cap was probably broken now. Moving my arm the slightest would send extreme waves of pain throughout the entirety of my arm, making it feel like my arm had been torn off instead of being stabbed. But this wasn´t the worst pain I had gone through. Not even close.

I stared up at the looming figure with blank and tearful eyes, my tears coming from the intense pain in my arm, and the pain of the thought I would never see my princess alive ever again.

"W-Who are you…?!" I asked weakly as the figure approached me with a chuckle, stepping out of the shadows.

When I saw the figure´s face I growled a little of anger, not able to do anything else as I was beginning to feel weak.

"Of course it´s you…" I mumbled as my vision began to blur. "Sugou…"

Sugou smirked a bit as he raised his dagger.

"No… I can´t let you…" I whispered as my consciousness began fading "Get away with this…"

As he was about to strike down towards me my eyes closed and I lost consciousness, rescued from the gruesome pain that I surely was about to experience.

~Reality~

I screamed loudly and yanked my head off my pillow, sweat running down my forehead in streams.

"ASUNA!" I yelled loudly as I sat up in complete terror, having yet realized that I was now back in my own world.

I panted violently and my hands was shaking as I heard a soft and delicate voice call out to me in surprise and fear.

"K-Kazuto!? What´s wrong!?" I turned my head and realized Asuna was sitting next to me, looking at me with a worried expression.

"A-Asuna? What happened!?" I asked as I looked down at my hands and fingers, realizing it had all been another terrible nightmare. I should have known from the start.

My skin was ice-cold and my hands were shaking so violently I wouldn´t have been able to hold a spoon If I wanted to. The sweat pearls on my forehead felt like they were burning, and my body wouldn´t keep calm whatever I did to calm down. I was about to break into tears as I looked over at Asuna.

"Please.. I don´t want any of this anymore…" I mumbled as I finally broke into tears, sobbing into my hands.

Asuna gasped a little and grabbed me as she held me close to her, soothingly running her hands through my hair like she always did to calm me down.

"Shh it´s ok. It´s ok" She whispered into my ear as she rocked us back and forth, like a mother would her child.

I desperately tugged at her clothes for her to come closer and she immediately obliged, hugging me closer and closer as the time ran by. I softly wept onto her shoulder, my tears staining her clothes as she lied us down, carefully to get as close to me as she possibly could.

She softly began humming a tune. A tune I immediately recognized. A soft and beautiful melody that would follow you around almost everywhere on the 22th floor in SAO. One I would forever remember as Everyday Life.

I sobbed softly as she hummed into my ear, softly and slowly calming me down as I breathed in her scent and listened to her heartbeat.

As I finally calmed down, I wiped my tears and looked at my girlfriend with an embarrassed blush.

"I-I´m sorry about that…" I mumbled embarrassedly as I wiped my face.

"It´s ok Kazuto." Asuna mumbled as she ran her fingers through my hair delicately "We all have nightmares from time to time. And yours are more severe than normal"

I nodded a bit and sighed.

"Kazuto. Lie your head in my lap" She mumbled softly and I looked at her in surprise.

"Huh? Why?" I asked confused as to what she was going to do.

"Just do it…" She mumbled as she looked at me with a soft smile.

"Uh o-ok" I mumbled, still confused.

I lied down on my back and did as she told me, softly lying my head in her lap as she sat behind me. She softly continued Everyday Life from floor 22 as she caressed my cheeks softly, her delicate and warm hands giving me a relaxed and fuzzy in all of my body, which finally had stopped shaking. I sighed a bit as I smiled up at her and she smiled back at me warmly.

"Better now?" She asked as she let her hair form a curtain around our faces.

"Much better" I said as I looked up at her with a smile.

She nodded a bit and leaned down, softly kissing my forehead. I smiled and moaned a bit of bliss as I took one deep breath after another, allowing my breathing to calm down along with my body control. I sighed a bit as the world surrounding us disappeared, leaving us to enjoy this one, blissful and silent moment with each other.

"Hey Asuna? " I asked softly as I looked up at her with another smile.

"Yes Kazuto?" She answered as she smiled back at me, sending shivers through my spine with whatever little thing she did to me and for me to calm me down and make me feel good.

"Not to be rude or anything, but," I said softly as I made myself more comfortable "What are you doing here?"

"Well, you kind of forgot your jacket at my place" She answered with a smile "So I came here to deliver it to you. Your aunt told me you were asleep so I came up here, and when I arrived her you were tossing and turning in your bed"

I sighed a bit and smiled.

"I´m ok so don´t worry about it ok?" I said as I looked up at her.

She pouted a bit and caressed my cheek with her hand.

"But I want to worry about you" She said as she looked at me with a sad expression "Don´t you remember our promise? The one we made after you saved me from Kuradeel?"

"Of course I do" I mumbled softly as we continued to phrase our promise in sync "_To help and protect each other forever, whatever might happen"_

"Exactly." She smiled a bit and kissed my forehead "And I want to hold up on my promise I made that day. To help and protect you. But I can´t do that if you don´t let me involve myself with this"

"I know Asuna but…" I said as I looked away from her with a worried expression "I don´t want to burden you"

"Kazuto I keep telling you," She said as she cupped my face in her hands. "You´re never a burden. I want your problems to be my problems."

I looked up at her with a surprised and dumbfounded expression as she spoke softly to me.

"And if you´re scared something might happen to me, you don´t have to worry" She said as she giggled adorably "I´m the lightning flash, remember?"

"And if anything might happen" She whispered as she brought her face closer and closer to mine "I have my black swordsman to protect me"

With this she completely closed the small space between us as she kissed my lips gently, yet aggressively. I moaned a bit as I smiled and kissed her back, feeling how all our passion was transmitted to each of us in this wondrous moment.

"If that´s the case" I mumbled as we parted for a moment "Then i´m going to rely on you as well Asuna"

"Always my prince" She mumbled softly as she kissed me again, and I smiled as I kissed her back, softly caressing her cheeks with both my hands as the moonlight outside shined upon us.

**A/N**

**There you go guys! Another chapter done!**

**You like it? I hope so. Kind of had writers block again. Stupid brain xD**

**Well nothing else to say then, see you next week guys!**


	9. Chapter 9 - Never Forget

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 9 – Never Forget_

I slowly blinked my eyes open as the gentle rays of the morning sun shined through the thin curtains of my bedroom window. I blew some of my raven hair away from my eyes as I stared up into the ceiling of my room, taking a deep breath. I looked slightly to my left, smiled, and chuckled a bit, as I saw Asuna clinging to my arm and sleeping peacefully.

I smiled a bit and softly kissed her cheek as I slowly sat up, so I wouldn´t wake her from her peaceful slumber. I looked around my room sleepily and stretched a bit as I stood up and grabbed my grey t-shirt and black jeans, putting on my clothes as I made my way down the hall towards the bathroom. I sloppily stepped inside and grabbed my toothbrush, grabbing a towel and preparing myself for a bath.

I opened up the water and stripped myself of all clothes, soon stepping into the refreshing and warming rays of water soon covering my whole body. I made sure I thoroughly washed myself on every last spot on my body, making sure to enjoy a nice warm bath, something I hadn´t been able to do in a long time due to my stressful lifestyle the last year.

After several blissful and peaceful minutes of letting warm water cleanse me and wash away my worries for a moment, I stepped out of the bath, turned off the water, and wrapped up my waist with a towel, beginning to dry my hair with another towel, softly humming the floor 22 background music to myself.

Suddenly the door handle turned and the door swung open, revealing Asuna staring down at her phone, with a small smile. When she had swung the door open she looked up from her phone, and when she realized I was here her movements froze, leaving her in the doorway with a dumbfounded look on her face. My movements froze as well, leaving both my arms on the towel on my head, staring at my girlfriend who had just interrupted me in the bathroom.

In a long while we both stood there, dumbfounded, frozen, unable to move from sheer surprise and embarrassment. I could slowly feel an intense blush run over my cheeks as I stood there and stared at my girlfriend, who was also blushing intensely as her face finally began to contract into an embarrassed expression.

"I-I´m so sorry! Please continue!" She yelped as she rushed out and slammed the door behind her, her footsteps disappearing down the hallway. I still stood in the bathroom, still unable to move from embarrassment, having a hard time processing what had just happened. I sat down on the toilet and sighed a bit.

"Why do we have a bad habit of ending in embarrassing situations?" I asked no one in particular as I continued to dry my hair and prepare myself for an all new day.

I changed my clothes into a black t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans, and walked down the hallway towards ground floor. I walked down the stairs and looked at Asuna who was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at me with a faint blush as she began walking up the stairs past me, whispering something like, "I´m sorry" as she passed me on the stairs.

I smiled and chuckled a bit as I found her shy behavior cute, and smiled all the way down to the kitchen. By the kitchen counter, Suguha was currently preparing breakfast, which of course consisted of salad somehow.

"You just can´t live without salad can you?" I said with a smile as I patted her head.

"Nope. Now go get a plate" She said with a giggle and a smirk as she chopped the tomatoes.

"you don´t want my help?" I asked as I began setting the table.

"No it´s ok." She said with a smile and a nod as she looked over her shoulder "You, setting the table is good enough"

"ok then." I said with a smile as I put on the last silverware "Hey, where is mom?" I asked softly as I realized my aunt was nowhere to be seen.

"Well, she is at work. Left a couple of hours ago" She said as she put a bowl of salad on the table.

"Shouldn't you be at school? It´s Thursday" I said as I looked at her and she nodded.

"Yeah I should. " She said with a sigh "But when I told my teacher how bad you were doing she let me stay home this week to be there for you"

"Aww Sugu" I said as I wrapped her up in a hug "You´re too cute!"

"Nope. Just a good sister "She said with a giggle "Now go tell Asuna breakfast is ready"

I nodded a bit and smirked as I began walking up the stairs to the second floor. Since Asuna had interrupted me in the bathroom earlier, I suspected she was there. So I walked up to the bathroom door and knocked softly.

"Asuna? You in there?" I asked softly as I waited for a response, just to be sure I wouldn´t interrupt her in… Whatever she was doing.

"Yes? Come on in Kazuto" She called from behind the door.

I smiled a bit and entered softly, looking at Asuna with a small smile as she was currently drying her hair after a bath.

"Breakfast is ready." I said with a smile as I wrapped my arms around her waist from behind "It´s Suguha´s infamous salad supreme"

"Does she even know how to cook anything else?" Asuna asked with a giggle which she tried to hide with her hands.

"Nope. Now come on" I said with a chuckle as she nodded and put away the hairdryer, walking down the hall close behind me.

When we reached the kitchen we all sat down at the kitchen table, with each of the girls beside me, with Asuna on my left and Suguha on my right.

"So guys I was wondering" Asuna suddenly said with a small smile as she looked me and Suguha at turn "It´s been a long time since we´ve been together with everyone in one place, so how about we meet everyone at Agil´s new café?"

"That´s a great idea! That way Suguha can meet all of our SAO friends!" I said with a small smile. Suguha nodded with a small smile in agreement.

Asuna then began hastily typing away on her phone, most likely telling everyone to meet us at the Dicey Café. What I didn´t know was what kind of surprise her and my friends had in store for me.

~Asuna´s POV~

Yes! He had approved of the idea! Now just to tell everyone that the plan had been set in motion. I texted everyone that Kazuto had approved, and told them to be at the Dicey Café at 2 o clock in the afternoon. I looked forward to how Kazuto would react to the little surprise I had arranged for him at the Dicey Café. He would surely be surprised by it, but hopefully happy. Of course he didn´t know that Suguha also was a part of all of this.

The meaning with all of this was to make him forget, at least for a while, what he had had to go through to protect his family and his loved ones. So many injuries had been inflicted on him, as a result of him trying to protect me and the people that was important to him. I could still clearly see for myself his agonized and scared face when I had jumped in front of him to protect him against Heathcliff in SAO.

According to Klein he had become enraged when I had disappeared from Sao, when I died. He had been so shocked and afraid when he thought he had lost me, that the normally calm and collected Kirito I knew from SAO, in the matter of moments had been utterly destroyed and replaced by a rage-blind individual, who didn´t care if his opponent died or not. And the thought scared me to be honest.

I wanted him to forget as much of all the pain, emotionally and physically, as possible. I never wanted to hear about this new Kirito ever again, and I didn´t want to ever experience a meeting with him first hand. So this was one of the reasons I had arranged this little surprise. To make him happy again.

For this to work I had gathered all of his loved ones. Every last person he had helped in the game, every last friend he had made in Sao. I had downloaded Yui down on an app on my phone, so I could monitor her on my phone, and chat with her wherever I was, so she would of course be there with me.

Then there was all our friends from SAO. Every last person him and I had made throughout the two years we were caught in the game, had been invited to this little surprise for him. All those people who held thoughts of gratitude, and who loved Kazuto for who he was, had gladly accepted the invite. And now everyone was waiting for Kazuto, Suguha and I, so they could give him his big surprise.

By now it was around 10:30 in the late morning. If we took the bus right away we would be right in time.

"Ok Kazuto! Everyone is already at the Dicey Café!" I said with an excited squeal "If we take the next bus we should get there before noon!"

"Ok! Let´s go then" Kazuto said casually as he grabbed his shoes and jacket, heading for the door "You coming girls?"

"Of course! Just try to stop us!" Suguha said excitedly as she sprinted for the doorway, putting on her shoes and jacket as fast as she could.

I took on a more slow approach, tying the knots on my shoes carefully so they wouldn´t get unbound. I smiled over at Kazuto as he smiled and tied his shoes as well, probably looking forward to see his friends. It´s understandable though. He had either been busy with school or helping with developing new SAO, so he hadn´t had much time seeing his friends. So I would understand that he looked forward to seeing everyone again.

When we made our way out the door, Kazuto hanged back to lock the door behind him, just to make sure. He had grown more and more careful, almost to the point of paranoid every day ever since he first time was abducted by Sugou in ALO. And honestly I understood why. I would get paranoid as well if the main thing I feared the most kept coming back to hurt me. I really felt bad for him.

He smiled a bit at me and his sister as he put away the key for the front door of his home, walking off the porch and down to us. I smiled a bit as I reached my hand away from my waist for him to take it, and he immediately smiled and obliged, taking my hand in his and giving it a little warm squeeze, before we began walking towards the nearby train station.

Soon we arrived at the train pavilion near the Dicey Café, the new Café that Agil had bought not long ago. We began making our way down the crowded streets, and I reached for my phone to text everyone we soon would arrive, telling them to keep quiet for now.

We arrived at the Dicey Café and Kazuto walked inside. I could see his confused expression as everything inside was dark as night, and no one seemed to be around. That´s until he stepped into the middle of the room.

"SURPRISE!" Suddenly the lights turned on and everyone jumped out of their hiding spots, almost scaring the living day light out of Kazuto.

"W-What the hell?" He asked dumbfounded as he looked at our large group of friends who was all running over to crowd him from all sides.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you?" I asked innocently, trying not to laugh "Were just having a celebration, to congratulate you on winning SAO"

"Huh?" He asked dumbfounded as he was dragged to a small stage near the bar in the café by Liz and Scilica, who was both giggling loudly.

Liz then proceeded to introduce the main guest.

"Give it up for Kirito!" Liz yelled loudly into her microphone "The guy who saved us and four thousand other players from certain death!"

"To Kirito!" Klein then yelled, raising a glass of soda.

"TO KIRITO!" Everyone cheered loudly, making Kazuto blush and shyly scratch his neck.

I ran up on stage and hugged my boyfriend close, kissing him deeply and passionately, trying to ignore the teasing grinning and giggling from Scilica and Liz, and the "aww" from the gathered crowd in the bar. I smiled a bit as I felt Kazuto wrap his arms around me and kiss me back just as passionately.

I pulled away from him and smiled at him happily. We were both blushing a bit, and he smiled sweetly back as he wrapped an arm around my waist facing us out towards our friends, smiling out at them happily. Then we stepped down the stage to chat with our friends.

"You do know you guys were making quite a scene right?" Liz asked us teasingly as she nudged me "That´s not like you Asuna"

I blushed a little and put a lock of my hair behind my ear in nervousness.

"W-Well I didn´t really think when I ran up to Kirito so uhh…" I mumbled as I looked downwards in embarrassment.

"This is why I love teasing you Asuna" Liz said with a giggle "You get so cute when you´re embarrassed"

Then Kazuto leaned in and whispered in my ear "That is true you know"

"S-Stop it both of you…" I mumbled softly, which resulted in soft chuckles from both of them, and a soft kiss on my cheek from Kazuto.

"K-Kirito-san?" Suddenly Scilica stood beside Kazuto, softly tugging at his sleeve.

"Yeah Scilica?" Kazuto then asked as he turned and smiled at the young girl.

"Sasha-san want to talk with you" She answered as she kept tugging at his arm "Come on!"

"Asuna, it will just be a short moment I promise" He said with a smile as he let go of my waist and went with Scilica to talk with Sasha in private.

~Kazuto´s POV~

I wandered away from the crowd with Scilica who led me to Sasha, who was sitting alone in the back corner of the Café by the tables. I took a seat by the same table as her, and she smiled at me and nodded.

"Good to see you again Kirito" She said with a smile and I smiled back "It´s been a while"

"Yeah it has" I said with a smile "How is the kids from the church doing?"

"they´re doing quite well thank you" She said with a soft smile "they have all gone through rehab perfectly and was able to go back to their old life already a few weeks after getting out of SAO"

"Wow that´s amazing!" I said with a wide grin and a happy nod "Now, Scilica told me you want to talk about something?"

"Well you see" She began as her smile turned into a more serious expression "You did know a girl named Sachi in the game right?"

I frowned a bit as I heard her name again. It had been a while since I had thought about her last.

"Yeah I did." I said as I sighed "What about her?"

"Well, you do remember that record crystal she sent you on Christmas Eve right?"

"Yes, and?"

"Well, right after she had send the crystal…" Sasha then continued "She realized she had forgotten to tell you something on it. And since they were quite expensive she couldn´t afford a new one."

"ok, go on" I said, wanting to get to the core of the case.

"You see, I was a very good friend of her" she said with a sigh "both in game and IRL. And she told me, if I ever managed to meet you, to give you her thanks for the time she got to spend with you."

I teared up a bit at these words but nodded.

"And… She also wanted me to give you this" Sasha then continued as she produced a beautiful hand crafted wooden box.

I looked at it in wonder and hesitantly took the box out of Sasha´s hands, and opened it to see what was inside.

I widened my eyes a bit as I saw what was inside.

A beautiful silver cross necklace lied inside, decorated all over the cross with beautifully cut silver roses and vines, and a small engraving on the back, being the letter S.

Along with this necklace was a note, and a black and white photo, consisting of Sachi, and the rest of my old guild, The Moonlit black Cats. Keita, Tetsuo, Sasamaru and Ducker. They were all there. Happily grinning at the camera that was taking their picture. They were all standing in front of row after row of computers, so I guessed they were standing in their schools computer club room, which they all happened to be a member of. I teared up even more as I saw their smiling faces once again, something I had longed for for a while.

I folded open the note, and it was from Sachi. It read as following:

_Hey Kirito. Yeah, you´re surprised to hear from me again right? Well there was some things I missed out to tell you in SAO, and if you ever receive this wooden box it seems you have survived the death game. Congratulations. _

_Me? Well, as I told you in the recording crystal, I'm most likely dead. I am honestly not surprised by the fact, seeing how I couldn´t face a monster without being scared._

_But you, you survived. And I am forever grateful for that. Cause then I know that there is always hope of happiness and peace for those people that surround you. _

_I just want you to know that I don´t want you to dwell in the past. What´s done is done, end of story. I can ensure you that whatever happened, is not your fault. We are all to blame for what happened. _

_I´m happy that I at least had a good time with you in SAO. You managed to pull me through my fears, and showed me how beautiful the virtual world can be. You made me believe in myself more than anyone else ever could, and I feel I owe you somehow. So I will now cash in my debt by giving you this photograph and necklace._

_The necklace has been my special treasure for many years before the SAO death game even began. It had a special place in my heart when I was still alive, since it was a gift from my mother, who soon after giving me this necklace sadly passed away from illness._

_I want you to have it._

_Because, just like my mother, you were a special person to me, ever since day one. You protected me, helped me when I was scared, and told me everything was going to be ok. And even though I´m dead, I learned to accept death as a possible destiny for me. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the special memories you gave me, right until my dying breath._

_What I´m really trying to tell you with this blabbering is, that dwelling in the past is not good. Don´t dwell over what happened. Just remember all the fun times we had together, just you and I. And Kirito, please, do never forget me. That is all I ask of you in return for this necklace._

_Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I might never have lived life to the fullest in my final days if it wasn´t for you. Thank you so much._

_Love, your friend forever, Sachi._

Now I could no longer contain my tears. They were flowing like streams now, and I didn´t even want to stop them anymore. I just let my emotions go. Gave myself the freedom to cry.

"I´m so sorry Sachi… I will never forget you, I promise" I whispered out as I clutched the rose silver cross close to me, never wanting to let it go.

I ran outside in a heap and stood in the middle of the street, crying for a moment. I watched the sun for a bit and held the necklace close to me as all the memories me and the guild had shared rushed back to me in a flashback. I looked down at the necklace, with tears running down my cheeks again and again.

"Sachi… I don´t know if you can hear me" I whispered softly "But thank you… For everything"

And as I stood there in the street and looked up into the sky, drying my eyes in my sleeve, I could almost hear a faint whisper carried by the wind that rushed over me and the street.

"_Thank you Kirito…. Good luck…"_

**A/N**

**Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

**Gosh I just had to do this. The feels man. The feels!**

**Hope you enjoyed the extra sad part I put in the chapter in the end. Cause I think it came out rather good in the end.**

**I look forward to uploading the next chapter next week, and I hope you guys look forward to reading more of my stuff.**

**Thanks, and read you next week guys!**


	10. Chapter 10 - A Peaceful Slumber

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 10 – A Peaceful Slumber_

I was currently sitting by a bar table with Asuna, Liz, and Klein, playing with a game of cards with them. The party my friends were holding for me was already running out into late hours, but honestly, that didn´t really affect the mood, which couldn´t have been better. Everyone was laughing, chatting and overall having a good time no matter what they were doing.

For the first time in a very long time, I was feeling truly and fully relaxed. No stress, no fear, no exhaustion. Just simple and full pleasure and bliss. I looked around in the bar every now and then, wondering how I had deserved such wonderful friends.

Sasha and Yulier was currently standing by the bar with Agil, cleaning his glass as always. They were currently having a heated exchange about clothes. Or, it seemed more like Yulier and Sasha did the talking, Agil just listening and nodding every once in a while as he held his focus on his glass.

Over in the corner, Scilica was talking with Suguha about how she was planning to make a local technician help her make a mechanical Pina, one that would function just as well as the one from SAO, and would have the same memory as well. Suguha was eager to ask questions about the game, and maybe learn some tricks and tips from someone who had played a VR game two years straight.

I knew how much Scilica missed her pet dragon. She had made sure everyone in our group knew, with how much she was talking about her. Not once had I met her in the street or at a meet up, where she wouldn´t have somehow turned the conversation topic towards her beloved light blue feathery friend. I had first hand experienced how much she was willing to sacrifice for Pina, so I understood how much she missed her.

In the far end of the room, Thinker and Keinz was having an excited conversation about a new VR game just coming out to the Amusphere, called GGO. They were especially excited about the theme of the game, since it was heavily war and gun based. I chuckled a bit as I listened to their conversation. I figured they were the type of guys who would like stuff like that, but the game DID sound interesting.

"Yo Kirito! It´s your turn buddy!" Klein yapped, ripping me out of my thoughts.

"Oh sorry Klein!" I mumbled with a smile.

I put down another card and smiled a bit as I let the game progress, handing over the turn to Lizbeth.

"You seem a little amiss Kirito" She mumbled as she flipped a card. "Something wrong?"

"No no! Nothing of the sort!" I said with a defensive wave of my arms "It´s just, I was thinking about how lucky I am to have such an amazing family, and such amazing friends"

"Damn straight you are!" Klein yapped as he smirked boyishly "So you better damn treasure them, you hear me!?"

"Yes Klein. The whole bar hears you" I said with a chuckle.

I looked over at Asuna with a smile, and she smiled back, before flipping over a good combination of vards, sending me out of the game for good.

"Oh come on!" I mumbed regretfully as I threw my cards onto the table "You always get me somehow!"

"Shush child!" Asuna said with a giggle as she pressed a finger onto my lips "Just watch and learn ok?"

I pouted a bit and crossed my arms childishly, which gained a collective laugh from my three companions around the table. I couldn´t help it and laughed as well, enjoying the incredible moment.

After the game finished, and Asuna won again to my big regret and Asuna´s great pleasure, I stood up and clunked my glass a bit with I fork I had borrowed from the bar, to gather everyone´s attention.

"Ok people!" I yelled as the chatting from around the room began to die down "Settle down please!"

There didn´t go long before everyone quieted down, Klein being a bit slower than everyone else because of his cheerful and sometimes loud nature.

I cleared my throat and took a deep breath before I smiled and looked out at everyone, Asuna in particular.

"Dear friends and family" I said with a smile and everyone smiled back "Thanks for doing this for me. No words I know can express how happy I am to have this moment with you guys"

Everyone clapped a bit before settling down again, letting me continue.

"I honestly don´t know where I would be if I didn´t have you guys" I said with a smile "Those two years we all have been through was hard. But I have a feeling that if I hadn´t had a great family to return home to, or amazing friends who supported me through thick and thin, I don't think I would have lasted those two years."

I could hear a bit of sniffling in the background but decided to ignore it for the time being so I could finish my speech.

"Asuna, Klein, Agil, Scilica, Liz and Suguha" I said as I looked out at my most loyal friends, who all took a step forward "You guys deserve the most praise. If you guys hadn´t taken action like you did when you got me out of ALO, I don´t know what I would have done. Thank you so much"

Everyone clapped again to praise the people who had come to my aid when I needed the most, before settling down once again.

"Today, we are united once more" I said as I lifted my glass "May we be united many times in the future as well. To a bright future, and a forever-lasting friendship!"

Everyone cheered loudly and clinked their glasses, the happy atmosphere soon returning to the small bar. I smiled a bit and sat down beside Asuna, who immediately placed a soft kiss on the cheek.

"You saved all of us from SAO Kazuto" She whispered into my ear "I want you to know that"

"Thanks Asuna." I mumbled as I kissed her back, softly pressing my lips onto hers.

She smiled and immediately returned the kiss, cupping my face in her soft hands.

I smiled and hugged her close to me as we parted from each other, and she sighed happily as she laid her head on my shoulder, looking out at the buzzling of the party.

A couple of hours the crowd slowly but surely began putting on their overcoats, and buzzing out into the night. It was late, and everyone had had an incredible time together, me especially. I made sure to say bye to everyone as they left, hugging or shaking hands with every last one of my amazing friends. Soon the crowd had shrank into Asuna, Agil, Klein, Scilica, Liz and myself.

"Whew… What a party" I mumbled tiredly as I helped everyone clean up.

"Hell yeah." Klein yelled happily from his seat in the bar "We´ve got to do that again sometime!"

"You bet!" Liz yapped and thumbed up.

I chuckled a bit and nodded softly as I pushed my broom over the floor of the bar, removing whatever dust or dirt there might have remained.

"You guys can go home" Agil said with a confident smile and a nod "I can take care of the rest"

"You sure Agil?" I mumbled softly as I looked at him "You don't need our help?"

"I´m used to work like this by now" He said with a smirk "It is my bar after all"

"That sounds perfect then" I said with a smile as I grabbed my jacket off the coathanger by the entrance "Remind me to treat you to a drink next time were hanging out"

"You bet!" Agil chuckled happily.

Everyone then began to make their way towards the entrance, some having more exhausted expressions on their faces, Klein staying back at the bar.

"You guys go ahead!" He said with a smirk "Can´t let Agil have all the work am I right?"

"Cool! See you guys soon!" I said as I waved and smiled back at them over my shoulder.

I laced fingers with Asuna as her, Suguha and I left the bar together, Scilica and Lizbeth soon dispersing into the night in different directions. I smiled a bit as I looked over at Asuna, then at Suguha.

"You go ahead Suguha" I said with a smile "I have something to show Asuna!"

"Don´t do anything naughty you two" Suguha said with a wink.

She began running down the street with a giggle and I blushed a little, rolling my eyes at her.

"Keep your mind out of the gutter!" I yelled after her, resulting in a giggle from Asuna.

"Don´t be so hard on her Kazuto." She mumbled as she linked our arms "She is a teenager too you know"

"Yeah I know" I said with a chuckle "I experience her teenage problems first hand everyday back at home!"

"I´m sure" She responded with a giggle "Now what did you want to show me?"

"Come with me!" I said with a laugh as I began running, leading her towards the park we had held our recent date in.

After a few minutes we arrived at the park, gasping a bit for air as we slowed down to catch our breath.

"Kazuto I don´t understand" Asuna mumbled confused "What are we doing here?"

"Look over there" I said with a smile as I pointed towards a group of bushes not too far away.

Over those bushes flew a swarm of fireflies, creating a warm and mysterious glow to the surrounding area around them. Asuna´s eyes lit up almost as bright as the fireflies themselves as she saw the beautiful sight.

"Oh wow!" She squeeled happily as she stared at the lightshow presented to her "So wonderful!"

"It is isn't it?" I mumbled as I hugged her close by the waist "Before SAO I would come here at this moment to relax and watch the sky and the fireflies"

"How come you haven´t shown me this before?" Asuna asked as she spread out her hand and let a firefly land in the middle of it.

"I was waiting for the right moment" I said with a smile as I watched the fireflies quickly surround us as we approached them and their gentle light.

"Can I have this dance Asuna?" I asked softly as I reached out my hand towards her.

"H-Huh? But we don´t even have any music!" She squeeled surprised, blushing slightly from my sudden request.

"We don´t need any" I said with a chuckle "Let nature´s sound be our rhythm.

"U-Uhmm i´m not sure what you mean but, ok" She mumbled softly, shyly taking hold of my hand.

I smiled gently and nodded as I placed my other hand on her hip, holding her close to me as we began to dance.

Soon we were engulfed in a sea of light from the fireflies and the overhead moon and stars. This moment with the love of my life was truly beautiful and blissful. We didn´t even need music to keep the rhythm, letting our instincts lead us as we danced in and out between the bushes and trees. We let nature rule over our movements, the light from the fireflies leading every step we took.

We danced like it was our last moment on earth, never breaking the eye contact between us, not even able to do so if we had wanted to. I looked deep into the most beautiful set of eyes I had seen in my life, the same eyes staring back into mine and staring right into my soul, triggering all sorts of clashing emotions to occur deep within my body.

The light from the moon fell down between the leaves and branches of the trees around us, creating a wonderful and beautiful lightshow to accompany our dancing. Never had I experienced that kind of euphoria or bliss before, the entire scene feeling just like a wonderful, wonderful dream. A peaceful slumber I never wanted to wake up from.

Asuna´s warm and gentle presence only made this moment even more blissful. Her soft and petite hands perfectly fit in mine, like our hands had been created just for this perfect moment. We danced around in perfect harmony, not even minding the fact that there might have been people watching us from a distance. It almost felt like the world around us disappeared as I focused on what was important, which was Asuna.

I didn´t even need to focus on my feet or any movement I made. Our steps was perfectly synced, almost like we had prepared for this very moment in ages. This scene was almost like taken straight out of a fairy tale, the prince dancing with his princess in the castle´s beautiful ball room. As I looked into my princess´s eyes I saw only bliss and peace. And I was sure she could see the same things in her prince´s eyes as well.

After a moment, which thank god felt like several hours, we slowed down our dancing and came to a halt, my back leaning towards a tree, and Asuna´s body leaning as much into mine as much as humanly possible. I don´t believe we had ever been that close to each other before, neither do I believe I had ever been so lost in her beautiful eyes before in our relationship.

I was suddenly ripped out of my thoughts as I saw Asuna´s face break into a silent giggle.

"What are you staring at?" She said as she smiled at me happily.

"N-Nothing" I mumbled, blushing just a bit and averting my eyes away from her.

Asuna pouted a bit and flicked my nose.

"If you don´t stop lying…" She mumbled teasefully "I might have to stop kissing you!"

I widened my eyes a bit at this (for me..) devastating threat.

"No! Anything but that!" I yelled with a tint of desperation in my voice.

"Then tell me what you were staring at!" Asuna mumbled, as she puffed out her cheeks.

"U-Uhmm" I mumbled as I blushed and averted my eyes further "I-I was just uhmm lost in your eyes for a moment"

"Aww you´re just a cutie aren´t you?" She said sweetly as she quickly pecked my cheek.

"Don´t call the guy who killed Gleam Eyes alone a cutie" I mumbled, pouting a bit from embarrassment.

"Sorry Kazuto. But you´re fun to tease" Asuna responded with a giggle.

I chuckled a bit and my blush slowly faded as I looked down at Asuna´s pretty face again.

"It´s been such a wonderful time today" She mumbled as she let me wrap my arms around her.

"yeah it has" I mumbled as I felt Asuna´s body warmth mix itself with my own, warming me up even more than before.

"Especially that moment we shared just now" She whispered as she brought her face close to mine.

"Yeah" I mumbled, not being able to say anything else as I was lost in her facial features.

"I love you Kazuto" She mumbled as she brought her face even closer than before, a small but happy smile on her lips.

"I love you too Asuna." I mumbled back, leaning in and closing the small space between us with a kiss.

I heard a soft moan from my partner in love and smiled as I continued to deepen the kiss, hungrily and desperately yearning for more with my body language.

She understood me perfectly, deepening the kiss just as much as I did with her. When we parted we were both out of breath, panting slightly as we looked at each other with slight smiles.

"Thank you, Asuna" I mumbled as I stared into her eyes.

She tilted her head in confusion and smiled.

"Huh? For what?" She mumbled as she looked at me wonderingly.

"For being there for me" I said with a gentle smile "For always being there"

She nodded a bit and blushed slight pink as she leaned in again.

"Always Kazuto… Always"

Those were the final words I heard from her before we shared another lustful and deep kiss with one another underneath the lush green leaves of the tree behind me, and the dark blue sky and crescent moon of the night.

…..

We had finally arrived at Asuna´s place after a couple of minutes of walking. I was sad to know this dream like evening was coming to a close, but all good things has an end. When we reached her house I turned towards her with a gentle, but tired smile, as the evening had drawn to midnight hours ago.

"I´ll call you first thing tomorrow, ok?" I mumbled softly as I looked at her.

She nodded a bit and smiled, a smile I would never get tired of seeing.

"That sounds good Kazuto" She said as her smile slowly dropped into a concerned expression "Please be careful on the way home, ok?"

"Don´t worry" I said as I took a step towards her with a smile "I know my Lightning Flash will save me if anything should happen"

"Of course" She mumbled as she took a step towards me "And I know you´ll do the same for me"

"Always" I mumbled as I softly kissed her lips for the final time that night.

"Sleep well princess" I Said with a smile as I watched her walk up the steps towards her porch.

"Goodnight, prince" She whispered back as she looked over her shoulder, blew me a kiss, and giggled before walking inside.

"Hehe" I mumbled softly, blushing a bit as I turned to walk the rest of the way home.

"I´m such a lucky bastard aren´t I?" I mumbled softly. "I have a feeling I´ll be able to get some actual sleep tonight"

And with that I proceeded to wander home, preparing for the scolding I would surely receive for arriving home at such a time in the night.

A/N

Hey guys! :D

Did you like this chapter? Cause I loved it X3

I do believe that this was one of my finest chapters yet. What do you guys think?

Hope you enjoyed, please do look forward to the next chapter, ok? : )

See you guys next week! Keep reading!


	11. Chapter 11 - A New Romantic Adventure

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 11 – A New, Romantic Adventure_

~Kazuto´s POV, the next morning~

I growled a little and blinked my eyes open softly as I woke up in my bed the morning after the party at Agil´s café.

"Well I'd be damned…" I mumbled with a soft and victorious smile "Two days without nightmares"

I chuckled a bit as my memory flowed back to the magical night I had had with Asuna and the others the night before. It had been truly blissful to say the least. The best celebration party for me, put together by my beautiful girlfriend and wonderful family.

"They deserve so much more than I can give them" I mumbled with a soft sigh "I need to pay everyone back some time"

I smiled a bit as I sighed and looked out the window, out into the open world outside. I took a step near the window and chuckled a bit as I looked down into our garden and saw Sugu, fully geared up and training her kendo as usual.

"Bright and early as always huh?" I mumbled with a chuckle and a soft smile.

I sighed a bit and rubbed my lazy eyes as I walked over to the computer. I booted it up and smiled a bit as I opened a folder, to boot up a particular computer program that I held extra dear from any other program. I smiled a bit as it only took a few moments to load, and soon enough, Yui´s adorable face popped up on the screen.

"Good morning daddy!" She squeeled happily.

She threw herself at my screen and pressed her soft cheek onto it, making it look like she was pressing herself up against the other side of a pane of glass.

"Good morning Yui" I said with a smile as I waved at her "How are you doing today?"

"Pretty good actually" She said with an enthusiastic grin.

"Oh yeah?" I said with a smile "How is ALO treating you? You keeping up your training?"

"Daddy you don´t have to worry" She said cockily "I´m training my butt off here!"

"That´s great to hear" I said with a fatherly smile as I thumbed out "Keep training and you might be able to beat me one day"

"Ha! That day might come sooner than you think" She said proudly "Though I must say I like just relaxing on the private server you made for you and mom, and me"

"It´s good to know it´s working well" I said with a nod "How high level are you?"

"I´m pretty high up actually" She mumbled as she flicked her wrist and made her menu appear.

"Take a look" She said with a smile as she flipped it towards me with a gesture, for me to see it more clearly.

"Wow! Way to go honey!" I said with a proud smile as I saw the results.

She had leveled up several times since I last checked on her, and she had even learned a few new sword skills. Her stats was much higher, and her equipment way better than the starter clothes she had received when I transferred her into a player.

"You see?" She said cheerfully "I told you I was training hard!"

"Yeah you´re right!" I said with a chuckle "I thought maybe you had needed my help to explain the basics, but I see that that is not necessary"

"Right? It´s awesome in here" She squeeled happily as she sprinted around on the screen happily.

"So how are the inn NPC´s in ALO treating you?" I asked curiously.

"The tavern lady is very nice" Yui said with a grin "She sometimes let me stay for the night for free!"

"Wow! Even though that might be against her coding?!" I mumbled, surprised.

"Yeah! She is very nice" Yui said with a smile and nod. "So have mama told you yet?"

I raised an eyebrow at the odd question and tilted my head in confusion.

"Huh? Told me what?" Apparently Asuna had told Yui something I didn´t know about.

"Oh! So she hasn´t told you?" Yui asked surprised "Then I won´t say any more!"

"Oh come on Yui!" I said with a pout "Now you made me all excited for nothing!"

"Sorry but a surprise is a surprise" She said as she crossed her arms, standing her ground.

"Aww.. wait, surprise!?" I mumbled as I looked at her with a smile.

She realized she had spoken a bit too much and covered her mouth with both hands as she looked at me with a surprised and desperate look.

"Oh shoot! I have already said too much" She said with a pout.

"Please tell me more!" I asked begging as I looked at her with the most adorable puppy eyes I could muster.

"Oh alright. Since you already know it´s a surprise…" She mumbled with a sigh.

"Yes! Please tell me!" I said excitedly, acting like a kid on Christmas eve.

"Well, aunt Suguha was on earlier," She told me with a smile "And she said something about mama having a surprise ready for you today!"

"Really?" I said excitedly as I stared at the screen happily.

"Yup. But you´re not getting more out of me daddy!" She said with a stern look and a pout.

I snapped my fingers and sighed a bit.

"Dang" I mumbled, to which Yui let out a small giggle.

"Daddy, you´re acting like you were my age" She said with a smile. "Or, what age I look like anyway"

"Yeah. Technically you´re only three," I mumbled with a smile "When you look like a ten year old"

"Exactly. You caught my point" She said with a giggle.

We then continued to talk just for a little bit, savoring the moment we had together. It had been a while since I had been able to talk to Yui like this, about everything and nothing, and I was happy I was finally able to see her again after that good while.

Asuna had already been sure to log on many times, almost every day, to check up on Yui and spend some alone time with her. Since I have been so busy lately, I had had a hard time getting any free space in my calendar, spending whatever free time with Yui or Asuna.

It was even more rare for all three of us to be together at once, since me and Asuna both had to be free for it to actually be possible. And with such a tight schedule such as mine had been for the past year, that was a hard thing to be.

After a good half an hour Yui smiled a bit and put her hands onto the screen with a smile.

"you should probably get breakfast now daddy" She said with a smile "You just woke up didn´t you?"

"huh? How did you know?" I mumbled, looking at her surprised.

"That´s easy." She said with a grin "I just guessed since you have such a funny bedhead!"

I looked at her in surprise and dashed over to my bedroom mirror. And sure enough, my hair stood out to all sides, looking like a crow´s nest.

"W-Why didn´t you tell me earlier!?" I almost shouted as I sprinted for the bathroom to get a brush.

I could clearly hear Yui´s voice from across the hallway and all the way into the bathroom. She was laughing loudly, teasing me.

"I wanted to see how long it took for you to realize!"

"Well I can´t say I don´t know who taught you to tease" I mumbled, knowing how much I used to tease Asuna when an opportunity occurred.

Yui giggled a bit and nodded enthusiastically as she looked at me with her big adorable eyes.

"Exactly. I learned from the best!" She said with a proud grin "Now go get some food in your tummy!"

"Thanks honey" I said as I kissed the screen "See you soon ok?"

"Bye daddy!" She yelled as I turned off the screen and sighed.

"She is always so cheerful" I mumbled with a smile "That´s something she has learned from her mother"

I sighed a bit and chuckled as I walked to the bathroom to get a quick bath. After getting thoroughly washed, brushing my teeth and running a brush through my hair, I checked in the mirror to see if everything was as it should be. When everything was checked I smiled and walked downstairs, to greet my cousin and aunt.

I smiled and yawned a bit as I walked into the kitchen, looking at them as they sat at the dinner table.

"Good morning you two" I mumbled sleepily.

"Good morning dear" My aunt said as she stood up and kissed my forehead.

"Good morning Onii-chan" Suguha said with a bright smile.

"Hey sugu! I take it your morning training is done?" I said with a smile.

"Yup. Though it´s not so hard when I don´t have a sparing partner" She said with a smile.

"Yeah" I said with a grin "But I don´t feel like having a headache today, so I'll pass"

"Hey! What´s that supposed to mean!?" She mumbled as she pouted.

"Just that whenever I spar with you, you end up hurting me somehow" I mumbled as I grabbed a piece of toast.

"H-Hey that´s not true!" Suguha said with an obvious blush on both her cheeks.

"well either way," I mumbled as I poured some milk in my glass "I have to meet Asuna, so even if I wanted to spar, I couldn´t"

"Aww what a letdown" I heard Suguha mumble as she looked downwards.

"Why don´t you just ask Recon?" I asked softly.

"he is about as strong as an butterfly" Sugu mumbled regrettably "he is way too easy to overcome"

"Yeah but maybe you could train him" I mumbled with a smile "You could be his Kendo sensei"

"Me? His sensei?" She mumbled in surprise "Y-You think I´m that good at Kendo?"

"For you to win over a guy who has been fighting with a sword two years straight," I mumbled as I took a sip of my milk "I would say yes"

"Oh yeah.." She mumbled softly "Well I have been practicing for many years, so maybe I´ll give that sensei stuff a shot"

"That´s the spirit!" I said with a smirk "Now If you would excuse me"

I smiled and nodded as I stood up from my chair.

"Huh? You´re already leaving?" My aunt asked in surprise.

"Yeah I am" I said with a smile as I made my way to the entranceway "I have been told that my girlfriend has a surprise for me!"

"What!?" I heard from the kitchen.

"What? Do you know something Sugu?" I said with a teaseful smile as I put on my shoes.

"N-No nothing at all!" She exclaimed loudly.

"Alright then" I said as I opened the door "See you later guys!"

I closed the door behind me and began running down the street towards my girlfriends house. Now that I had finally seen her residence up close I finally knew how to get there, without running around aimlessly or getting lost in town. Sure enough, soon Asuna´s house towered above all the rest, being as prestige as it was.

I smiled a little as I began approaching the house. For some reason I always got nervous when I was coming towards that house. I guess it had something to do with how much I wanted Asuna´s parents to approve of me. I would always check if my hair and clothes were appropriate before walking up onto their porch.

Today I wasn´t as nervous as I used to be though. Maybe it had something to do with how well I had acquainted with Kyouko and Shouzou-san lately, maybe I considered more like family, instead of just Asuna´s parents. I was happy I was getting to know them better, cause this would mean we would be getting a less formal relationship, and that would make it less tense and nervous between us.

I smiled and took the last step up to their front door, feeling no need to take a deep breath like I used to. I grinned a bit and knocked on the door with my left arm. Not many moments passed before I could hear tip-tapping from high heeled shoes coming from inside, and soon the door opened up, revealing Asuna on the other side.

"Huh? Kazuto?" She said with a surprise "You didn´t say you would come over"

"No but I have heard something interesting" I mumbled softly as I politely stepped inside and pecked her cheek.

"Huh? Interesting?" Asuna tilted her head "What could that possibly be?"

She was faking her curiosity. Trying to keep a straight face, pretending to not know what I was talking about.

"Oh I think you know what I´m talking about" I said with a sly smirk as I slipped of my Nike´s

"Really?" Asuna mumbled, trying not to laugh "I-I don´t know what you´re talking about!"

"Oh yeah?" I asked "Your quivering lips and nervously darting eyes is saying something else!"

I looked at her with a sarcastic rise of an elbow and a smirk as I teasingly brought our faces close together, only to tease and fluster her even more, hoping it would make her spill the beans.

"U-Uh uhmm I-I" Asuna blushed bright red and smiled nervously "Y-You see uhh…"

I smiled sweetly and chuckled almost devilishly as I brought my face even closer to hers.

"What?" I smiled innocently "You´re still getting flustered about stuff like this, even after that romantic dance number yesterday?"

"H-Hey! You know how I get lost in those kind of moments" She mumbled as she hit my shoulder and pouted.

"Exactly" I said with a smirk "That´s how I know when and how to tease you!"

"Dummy…"She mumbled as her cheeks flared up in a dark red.

"You´re cute when you are like this though" I mumbled as I pecked her lips.

"Now you get all romantic all of a sudden" She mumbled as she softly kissed me back "You´re hard to read!"

"Hehe but that´s what I´m supposed to be" I said with a smirk "That´s what being the black swordsman is all about"

"true" Asuna said with a smirk "A loner. A mysterious figure appearing on the battlefield, like a superhero coming for the aid of the civility"

"I was no hero back then" I mumbled shyly.

Now it was my time to get flustered, and Asuna immediately and mercilessly took and used the chance to the fullest.

"You saved more than 4000 people" She said with an innocent and soul piercing smile "That seems pretty heroic to me!"

"W-Well that was only because," I mumbled softly, but flusteredly "I-I had to protect you and our friends.."

"Exactly. You always think of everyone else first" Asuna mumbled softly caressing my left cheek with her hand.

I couldn´t say anything because of my fluster, simply blushing and darting my eyes around in the entranceway, trying to focus on anything but Asuna´s eyes, and then reveal how flustered I really was. I still knew I was failing though, when I could feel how heated my face became, no doubt being a blush crawling onto my cheeks.

I cleared my throat trying to bring the subject onto the matter I had come here for in the first place.

"A-Anyway" I mumbled as I looked at Asuna "What is it I hear about a surprise for me?"

Asuna smiled a bit.

"I guess there´s no point in hiding it anymore!" She said with a giggle "Were going on a romantic skiing vacation by the Himalaya Mountains!"

I looked at her dumbfounded, as I let my mind process the information it had just received. I looked at her in minor shock, trying to figure out if she was kidding or not, or if it might had been a dream of some kind. I tried to pinch my arm, but when I soon yelped a little in pain, I realized this wasn´t a dream.

Asuna´s sincere and sweet expression told me that this was no joke either. This was real. But even so I couldn´t help but ask her in complete disbelief.

"What?" I asked as I stared at her, dumbfounded.

"Yep" She said with a smle "You and I are going on a romantic skiing vacation to the Himalaya Mountains"

"R-Really?!"

When I finally snapped out of my dumbfounded trance my face lit up in pure excitement and ecstasy. Being on vacation to a foreign country, with the most important person in my life. It still seemed like I was dreaming, but I knew it weren´t. I grabbed Asuna by the waist and swung her around.

"You are the best girlfriend ever!" I yelled happily as I hugged her close "H-How can you even afford something like this!?"

"Well my parents are helping me pay so…" She said with a bright smile as she kissed both my cheeks "But how did you figure out I had a surprise for you!?"

"I won´t tell. My sources will remain secret!" I said with a happy grin.

"Yui?" Asuna said with a raise of an eyebrow and I chuckled.

"Yui!" I responded, laughing along with Asuna.

She kissed my cheek as I put her down and I smiled at her as I held her close by her waist.

"Do you know how precious you are to me?" I asked as I looked into her caramel brown eyes.

"About as precious as you are to me Kazuto" She mumbled as she leaned up and kissed me deeply.

I smiled and exhaled as I relaxed my body and breathing, smiling widely as I happily kissed her back. I closed my eyes happily and savored the moment with my girl, excitedly awaiting the moment we would be on our way to Himalaya. Awaiting a new romantic adventure.

**A/N**

**Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed!**

**So now I´m going to focus a bit more on Kazuto´s and Asuna´s relationship together, and how it will grow on this new adventure. How will it turn out? We´ll found out the next couple of weeks :D**

**See you next week! And keep reading!**


	12. Chapter 12 - Himalaya, Here we Come

Sword Art Online

After The Incident

Chapter 12 – Himalaya, Here we Come

~Kazuto´s POV~

I was in the middle of packing my last bag for my trip to the Himalayas with Asuna. I had made sure everything was in place, and that I had remembered everything I needed. I checked through my bags for like, the third time, just to make sure. I had even made a checklist for myself, so it would be easier to find out if I had lost or forgotten to pack anything. What can I say? I forget stuff.

When I was finished checking everything off my list I pulled both of my big bags over my shoulder and carefully went downstairs, making sure I wouldn´t get thrown out of balance by the extra weight on my back. Of course that failed miserably, resulting me in heading towards ground floor, face first, at a speed I would consider bad for your health.

With a loud crash I landed at the bottom of the staircase, sore all over, and with my clothes and toilet items spread out in the hall, making it look like a tornado had just hit. Suguha and Midori came running almost immediately, but their reaction was nothing like I had expected. They both burst out laughing, standing there and pointing at me like I was some sort of hilarious attraction.

Saying it was embarrassing was an understatement at that point.

" Haha. Very funny guys" I growled as I tried to get up "Owowowow"

"S-Sorry Kazuto" Suguha giggled as she grabbed my hand and pulled me up "You just looked so hilarious"

"Thanks" I mumbled sarcastically as I rubbed my sore forehead "It´s good to know at least you guys are having fun"

"Aww don´t be like that," my aunt said with a childish pout "Not when you´re about to leave for a two week vacation"

A part of me wanted to roll my eyes at her. When she was in the mood, she would always act so childish. It´s like she was eight all over again.

"You´re right." I mumbled as I looked at her "Sorry"

"No it´s alright" She said with a nod and bright smile "We shouldn´t have laughed at you, right Sugu?"

"Pff, I don´t regret anything" She said with a smirk.

"Sugu…" Midori said warningly, raising an eyebrow.

"Alright, alright I´m sorry" Sugu said quickly to avoid a scolding.

"Good girl. Now go finish your breakfast" Midori said almost commandingly.

"Yes mom" Suguha said as she walked back to the kitchen.

"Are you sure you´ve got everything you need honey?" My aunt asked as she helped me put my stuff back in the bags "This doesn´t seem like a lot for a two week trip"

"Are you kidding me!?" I yelped in surprise at her comment "This is the two biggest bags I have! And they nearly killed me on the way downstairs!"

"Well it´s still a two weeks trip" She said worriedly "And in the Himalayas of all places. You sure you and Asuna will be ok?"

"Mom it´s alright" I mumbled as I kissed her forehead comfortingly "Everything´s going to be fine. I´ve checked India´s emergency number, just in case"

"But it´s so far away.." She mumbled softly "And you´ll be gone for two weeks. I´m going to be worried you know"

"I know mom, I know" I mumbled as I pulled her into a hug "Just listen. I´m 17. Almost an adult. I have to learn how to take care of myself at some point"

"I know, I know" She mumbled as she hugged me back softly "I just don´t want to lose you again"

"Huh? Again" I mumbled as I looked at her confused.

"You know… SAO…" She mumbled softly as she looked downwards in sadness.

"Oh… Right…" I mumbled softly as I let go of her and took a step back.

"I was so worried…" She mumbled softly as she began breaking into tears "When I first heard it on the news… I flipped out. Hours had passed by and I was beginning to get afraid. I was beginning to wonder if I should just remove your VR helmet… If it hadn´t been for that news article I would have… I would have"

She broke down and softly began crying into her hands. I looked at her sadly and once again wrapped her into a comforting hug.

"But listen…" I mumbled as I forced her to look at me "I survived didn´t I? I escaped the death game didn´t I? I rescued everyone from dying in SAO. And Asuna rescued me from ALO. Isn´t that reason to put some trust into our ability to protect ourselves?"

"I-I guess you´re right Kazuto" She mumbled as she dried her eyes "You always are"

"Not always. But most of the time" I said with a smirk "Now, I just need to go say bye to Yui, and I´ll be going, ok?"

"Ok Kazuto" She said with a smile as I ran up the stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs she was watching me run upstairs, placing her hand on the railing.

I arrived at my room and smiled widely as I booted up my computer screen. I immediately booted up Yui´s program, and smiled as I saw her adorable face pop up on the screen. What I didn´t expect though was everything else that had appeared on the screen.

Apparently Yui was in the middle of a battle with a whole pack of grey fur wolfs along with a few other online players. She was currently battling what I assumed was the pack leader, since it was bigger and had a bit of a higher level.

"Oh hi daddy!" She said happily as she realized I had logged on "Give me a second, I´ll be right there!"

With these words she finished off the wolf with a slash along its side, pulverizing it. She smirked a bit and sheathed her sword as she watched the light blue polygons fly up into the sky, to disappear completely. She then turned towards me with a smirk and a thumbs up.

"I see you´re doing well in there" I said with a proud smile.

"Yup! At this point these wolfs are just daily business" She said as she looked over at her party "Hey guys! I´m taking five ok?"

"Aww but Yui!" A guy which appeared to be a mage said, a bit disappointed "Weren´t we going to go kill that field boss today? We can´t keep stalling like this!"

"It will only be a minute!" She said back with a caring smile "I´ll just talk to my daddy real quick!"

"Oh uhh ok then" The boy mumbled as he stepped back to his party, to leave me and Yui to ourselves.

"Seems like you´ve been making friends" I said softly as she walked away from her group.

"Yeah I have" She said happily "We met in the Sylvein starter town. They´re all really nice people, especially Taguchi"

"I expect that´s the mage you were talking to right?" I asked softly and Yui nodded enthusiastically.

"Yep that´s right!" She said with a smile "How did you know?"

"I don´t know" I mumbled "It just seemed like you were a bit closer to him then the others. I don't know, call it a father´s instinct if you want"

"Sure, if you say so" She said with a shrug.

The next couple of minutes we spent on some well needed quality time, just me and her. It surprised me when I realized how much I had actually missed Yui, even though it was only a couple of days I had talked with her last time. I realized that me and Asuna hadn´t really spent much time with her , even after I took that break.

The only time I had spent with her was the two times I had talked with her briefly on a screen, and when Asuna had brought her along for my surprise party a couple of days ago. I felt a weight being put on my consciousness, and I got a bright idea.

"Hey, Yui" I asked softly "What do you say we spent a weekend together in ALO? Just you, me and mommy?"

"Really?!" She said ecstatically "YES, YES, YES! Then I can finally show you both how strong I´ve become!"

"That sounds like a plan then" I said with a smile.

"So I guess you´re going on your trip with mommy soon, right?"

"That´s right." I said with a nod "I actually have to leave in about ten minutes or so!"

"Aww that wasn´t a lot" She mumbled "You have to promise I can battle you both in ALO as soon as you come home"

"That´s a promise princess" I said as I smiled widely at the screen.

"Well I hate to say it, but," I mumbled softly "Daddy has to go. I need to go to mommy´s house soon"

"Aww that's okay" Yui said as she kissed her end of the screen "Just make sure to be careful and have fun okay?"

"That´s funny" I mumbled with a chuckle "Normally that´s what the parents tell their kids"

"Hehe I guess so" She said with a giggle "But I don´t want either of you to get hurt"

"Aww sweetheart" I said as I kissed my end of the screen "Don´t worry. Mommy and Daddy will return safely okay?"

"Promise?"

"Promise" I said with a bright smile "See you soon honey"

And with that I closed down my program as I watched Yui walk back to her group, before the program shut down completely.

"She certainly has become stronger" I said with a proud grin.

I turned off my computer and smiled slightly as I raised myself from my chair, walked out and closed the door behind me. I went down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Guys, I have to go." I said with a soft smile "You want to come to Asuna´s house and sent us off?"

"Yeah that´s actually a good idea" Suguha said with a smile.

She put down the knife she had been using until now to chop the salad for lunch.

"Hehe one of the good things of traveling," I said with a grin "Is that I don´t have to live off salad for two weeks"

"You can comment on my salad all you want Kazuto" Suguha said with a huff "As long as it doesn´t kill you, that´s what I'll be making"

"Suguha, you don´t even know how to roast bacon" I said with a raised eyebrow "You should learn to cook other things"

With those words I pulled one of my big bags over my shoulder, and my mom took the other one.

"Even so," Suguha said with a glare as she entered the hallway "I don´t need to cook anything else. I´m fine with salad"

"Whatever" I mumbled as I pulled on my shoes. "Just give me a hug you!"

I smirked a bit and pulled her into a hug, accompanied by Midori, before I took my bag from mom and sprinted out to the taxi that had just arrived.

"See you guys in two weeks!" I said with a bright smile as I waved over my shoulder.

"See you soon Kazu-kun!" They replied, as they waved after me.

I looked behind me through the back window of the taxi and waved until my house and my family was out of sight.

~Later, at the Airport~

The taxi we had ordered had just dropped us off in a hurry at the airport. When I had arrived at Asuna´s house, she had immediately sprinted out and almost tackled me in a hug. Before we had left her premises, her parents had once again warned me to take good care of their daughter, especially Asuna´s dad. And as always my reply was "Of course"

And now we finally were at the airport, which was as busy as ever. People crammed together and shoved through crowds to get to their desired planes, and we were no exception. We actually had to hurry if we wanted to arrive at our plane in time.

"Of course our taxi had to be 20 minutes late" I mumbled angrily "That driver is lucky I was generous enough to tip him"

"Don´t be like that Kazuto" Asuna said through her panting as we sprinted through the crowd "That´s just what happens"

We finally arrived at the right dock, and I panted a bit as I sat down in a comfy chair.

"Haha… We made it" I mumbled through my breathing "And even with five minutes to spare"

"Yeah, seems like it" Asuna said with a smile as she sat down her bags and sat beside me.

I looked out the massive window that showed the area where the planes take off and land. Right at our plane gate was a massive passenger jet, easily being able to hold at least a hundred passengers.

"Whoa. That´s a big plane" I mumbled, impressed.

"And you know what Kazu-kun?" Asuna whispered in my ear.

"What?" I mumbled as I turned my head towards her with a grin.

"I´ve gotten us first class tickets" She said with a smile.

"What!?" I looked at her in surprise "Y-You didn´t have to do that!"

"Well, you only deserve the best of the best" She said as she softly kissed my cheek.

"Aww you!" I said as I blushed a little and kissed her back.

Soon the speaker over our heads announced that it was time to board, so we picked up our bags and headed towards the gate.

When we finally entered the plane and found our seats in first class, I was still not able to completely relax. No one knew about this, not even Asuna, but ever since I was five I have been terrified of flying. I hadn´t been able to think much of it up till that moment since I had been so busy packing and actually getting to the airport, but know that I was sitting in the plane I had all of the time in the world to think about it.

My body naturally began tensing up out of fear, and it wasn´t long before Asuna began to notice.

"Kazuto? You ok?" She asked as she put her hand onto mine comfortingly.

"Y-Yeah I´m fine" I said as I tried to force a smile.

Of course Asuna was able to see right through my façade. She sent a penetrating glare my way, the same glare that always made even the bravest soldiers of SAO stop dead in their tracks.

"Kazuto, you´re bad at lying" She said harshly "Just tell me what´s wrong"

"W-Well I uhh," mumbled, taken aback by her glare "I-I´m kind of nervous of flying. Fear of heights I guess"

"Aww is that it?" She mumbled as she took my hand in mine "Why wold you try to hide that?"

"Huh? I-I-I don't know" I mumbled sincerely, not really knowing why I would try to hide such a little thing.

"Well, I know how you can overcome your fear" She said with a smile.

I tilted my head at her in curiousness and smiled a bit.

"Really? How?" I asked.

"Close your eyes, and take a deep breath" She answered softly.

I did as instructed and closed my eyes slowly, taking in a relaxing deep breath. I was surprised when I felt something soft on my lips though. I knew what it was though so the surprise soon wore off as I kissed Asuna back passionately.

She sat back in her own seat and smiled over at me sweetly.

"If you relax and stop your body from tensing," She mumbled as she ran a finger over the back of my hand "There should be more where that came from"

"I´ll do my best then" I said with a smirk as I leaned over and stole a kiss on her cheek.

She blushed a little and smiled over at me, before the low speaker of the plane began speaking.

"_Ladies and gentlemen please put on your seatbelts. Were about to take off"_

Both Asuna and I did as instructed, sending small smiles to each other, mine maybe a bit more nervous then hers.

"Himalaya, here we come" I said with a soft smile.

And with that we lifted ourselves off of the ground, on our way to the Himalaya mountains-

~Unknown location~

Two hooded figures stood in the middle of a dark room, apparently eagerly chatting.

"So, they´re on their way now huh?" One of the hooded figures mumbled with a dark grin.

"Yes sir. Everything has been set in motion" The other figured mumbled, with a nod of it´s head.

"Good. Very good"

The first hooded figure turned away from it´s companion and chuckled a bit.

"Thought you could escape me by going to the Himalaya´s huh?" the figure said with a psychotic smile "You´ll see just how hopeless you really are, Kazuto Kirigaya."

Following those words were a crazy laughter and a soft smile.

"I´ll destroy everything that means anything to you" The figure said with a lick of his lips "Just like you took away what meant something to me"

Suddenly a third hooded figure stepped out from the shadows, talking with a much more feminine voice than the first two.

"Sir, it´s been confirmed that they have boarded the plane"

"Excellent. Simply excellent. Be sure to board the earliest plane to the same location. Find them, and report to me as soon as you do"

"Yes sir!"

And with this the third figure took a step back into the darkness the way it came, leaving no other trace of ever being there in the first place.

"Hehehe… Just you wait Kazuto-kun." The first hooded figure said with a psychotic smile "I can´t wait to show you what I have in store for you"

And with this he let out a crazy laughter, and left the dark room, without another word.

**A/N**

**Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**So, there´s still dark undertones huh? Don´t worry! I´m sure Kazuto will make it…. Right…? Right?**

**Only one way to find out. See you next Sunday! :D **


	13. Chapter 13 - Lurking Danger

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 13 – Lurking Danger_

We had finally arrived at the wondrous Himalaya Mountains. As we had been flying towards our destination, the weather had seemed to slowly but surely get colder and more savage than back in Japan. The plane trip itself was fairly peaceful, except one snobby rich kid kept complaining about how this couldn´t have been the first class, and how badly he apparently was treated.

Apparently he was not satisfied with anything, and his bickering with the stewardesses on the plane kept me awake, so I rarely got any sleep. I was ready to get up from my seat and hit him square in the jaw, but Asuna kept holding me back, which probably was for the best. Cause my temper, plus a lack of sleep, is bad news for anyone that happen to piss me off.

Not only that, but the plane trip itself was extremely boring. I had whipped out my decades old GameBoy Color, but had forgotten to charge it so only got about 30 minutes of gameplay. Then I wanted to rent a movie and watch it on a mini computer they provided on the plane, but of cause every computer was taken already.

And then when I wanted to sleep the rich kid asshole kept whining and bickering, keeping me awake.

So when the pilot finally announced that we had arrived at the Himalayan airport, I almost cried from happiness.

"Oh my god! Yes!" I yelled as I jumped off my seat "No more asshole rich kids, or uncomfortable boredom! Freedom at last!"

"Stop overreacting Kazuto" Asuna mumbled calmly as she stood up beside me "It wasn´t that bad"

"Yeah cause you had music in your ears" I mumbled as I pouted "If you hadn´t you wouldn´t be so annoyed and not get any sleep"

"It´s your own fault" She said "You could just have remembered to pack earplugs or music or anything really"

I didn´t want to argue with her so I called it off as we exited the plane and walked done to the airport gate to collect our luggage. As soon as that was done I grabbed my phone and ordered a taxi, and after about 20 minutes or so it finally arrived. I grabbed as many bags as I possibly could, leaving Asuna with her simply handbag, and put it as well as I could in the trunk of the taxi.

When we were about to step into the taxi I opened the cardoor nonchalantly for Asuna, stepping back so she could get in.

"Wow, what a gentleman" She said with a smile as she pecked my cheek "Thank you handsome"

And with that remark (And a satisfied smirk and a blush on my face) We stepped into the taxi, and soon we were off towards our hotel.

When we arrived at our hotel I immediately went up to the counter and got the key to our room, which was room 538. By this time, I was pretty tired from carrying around luggage, so I accepted when Asuna offered to take her own two bags. Luckily there was an elevator to the upper floors, so it didn´t put much strain on either of us.

When we arrived at room 538, I slowly turned the lock and doorknob, revealing the room for Asuna. It would remind you a lot of a hunter´s cabin, with two comfy chairs, a sofa and a coffee table in the middle of the room, and a double bed in the far end of the room.

When you entered the room there was a few cabinets on each side of an enormous stone fireplace, filled to the brim with books on every genre, from anywhere in the world. Some of them were even from Japan and was filled with beautiful poetry. Something Asuna would love without a doubt.

And as soon as I showed her the room I had reserved for our stay, Asuna´s face lit up in happiness and peace. She immediately went over and stared at the beautifully cut, handcrafted cabinets, running her hands over the oak wooded texture, and the glass panes that separated her and the many hours of reading that would, without a doubt, occur in the late night hours of our stay here in the Himalayas.

She giggled a bit and smiled widely as she ran over and tossed her self onto the massive bed, sighing happily as she stared up at the ceiling. I smirked and soon enough joined her, jumping up beside her and smiling as I looked in her direction. She did the same, and we lied there for a moment and just watched each other, and took in the moment.

"This place must have cost a fortune" She mumbled softly "How did you manage?"

"Our friends was more than willing to help me" I said with a smirk "They´re the best you know"

"Yeah, that couldn´t be more true" She mumbled with a smile as she nuzzled a bit closer to me.

I responded to her action by wrapping an arm around her shoulders, wrapping her up in my being. She smiled and sighed softly, and I could feel how the smallest tension in her body slowly began to fade, as well as in my own body. I was relaxed now, and I was out of evils reach. The both of us were.

She smiled and looked at me.

"So, a double bed huh?" she asked teasefully as she smirked "You hope for anything to happen?"

"I don´t know what you´re talking about" I said innocently as I smirked "For now we can just settle in, but in a couple of hours there is dinner downstairs"

"That sounds good Kazu-kun" She whispered in my ear as she put her head on my shoulder. "I love you"

"I love you too Princess" I mumbled as I softly and gently kissed her lips.

There was no need to act aggressive. I converted all the feelings I wanted to, just by being near her.

'I love you'

'I need you'

'Let´s stay together forever'

All these thoughts ran through my head as we lied there, huddled against each other, arms wrapped around each other, as we just enjoyed each others embrace and presence.

When we pulled away from each other we were both panting from a lack of air, and I smiled a little as I looked into her eyes.

"This is already the best vacation ever" I mumbled softly as I smirked a bit.

"Yeah, I agree" She said as she pecked one final time on my lips.

"Let´s get some sleep ok?" I mumbled softly "The plane trip was exhausting"

"O-Oh! Y-Yeah sure" She mumbled, suddenly blushing a little bit.

"Huh? What´s wrong Asuna?" I asked as I began to take of my shirt.

"W-Well since it's a double bed," She mumbled with a deeper blush than before "W-We´d have to lay close to each other right?"

I blushed a little and nodded.

"Y-Yeah" I mumbled softly, suddenly realizing what she meant. "D-Do you want me to get a spare madress or something?"

"O-Oh no! J-Just make sure to be turned the other way" She mumbled, blushing a dark red now "B-Besides, I want to lie besides you…"

I blushed a little at her response and nodded.

"C-Could you turn around so I can change?" She asked shyly, and I nodded and immediately did as she had requested.

Five minutes later she said I could turn around so I slowly did. I took one look at her and desperately tried to keep eyecontact, trying to look away from other… Distractions may I say, as she was only standing in her underwear.

"S-Stop staring at me like that…" She mumbled shyly "I-It´s embarrassing"

"O-Oh s-sorry"

I immediately turned my head away from her and blushed as she went into the bed and slipped under the covers. I then began to change into my sleepwear as well, and slipped into bed as well, beside Asuna. I made sure to turn my body and sight away from her as well, just like she had requested.

"S-Sleep well Asuna" I mumbled softly as I could already feel the exhaustion and jet lack take over.

"You too… Kazuto" She mumbled in response, shifting a bit in her position to try to get more comfortable.

Soon I could hear soft and slow breathing from her figure, and I assumed she had fallen asleep.

"I don´t know why she was so exhausted" I mumbled as I pouted a bit "She had plenty of sleep on the plane"

And with that final thought I could no longer keep my eyes open, and slowly drifted into dreamland.

~The Next Morning~

I woke up in late morning, as I felt soft movement close onto my back. I blinked my eyes open and looked back over my shoulder, letting out a small "Huh?" in surprise as I realized what was moving me around.

In the night, if it was consciously or subconsciously, Asuna had turned towards me, and wrapped her arms around my waist, without me noticing. Now she was shifting in her place, hugging me closer and closer to her by the second. You think I would have noticed if anyone had noticed me in the night, considering I was dead afraid something would happen to me at night, but this time I hadn't felt a thing.

"Guess I´m beginning to escape my nightmares" I said with a victorious smirk.

I smiled a bit and took the liberty of turning around to look at Asuna, also wrapping my arms around her as she was doing with me. As I did that she smiled a bit in her sleep, muttering something I didn´t completely catch.

"Kazuto…" She mumbled as her smile grew a bit wider.

"Yes, I'm right here hun" I mumbled softly as I kissed her forehead "I´m not going anywhere"

The next hour I spend snuggling closer to my girlfriend, and thinking up ideas to what we could be doing today.

"There´s the small village nearby" I mumbled to myself "We could go explore that… Or maybe do the obvious and go skiing in the nearby ski resort?"

I pondered over this time and time again, but was abruptly interrupted in my pondering as I heard knocking on the door.

"Huh?" I mumbled as I looked up at the door. "Oh that must be Asuna´s surprise"

I quickly threw on my jeans and my shirt and opened the door for the person who was knocking.

"Ok… uhmm what is `thanks´ in english?" I mumbled "Uhh Arigato.. No wait that´s Japanese… Uhh"

"You Japanese?" The waiter asked as he silently wheeled his cart inside.

"Uhh Y-Yeah" I mumbled, smiling slightly as I followed him in.

"Oh ok" He said with a smile. "Then please allow me to continue talking"

I almost fell flat on my face from surprise. The phrase he had spoken was in perfect Japanese.

"Y-You can speak Japanese?!" I asked surprised, almost so loudly that I woke up Asuna.

"Yes sir" He said with a smirk as he readied everything on his cart. "I have been studying it for many years, just in case someone Japanese would occupy one of these rooms"

"Wow.. You really are prepared aren´t you?" I asked with a dumbfounded expression and a chuckle "Thank you for the food. I´m sure my girlfriend will be amused"

"No, thank you for ordering sir" He said with a smile "Is there anything else?"

"No, nothing else" I said with a sigh and a smile "Thank you. You can go"

"Very well sir" The waiter mumbled with a bow.

He put everything on the table before nodding at me politely, and left with his cart.

"Well that was a pleasant surprise" I said with with a smirk.

I then went ahead and made everything ready for when Asuna woke up, which couldn´t be much longer, seeing it was almost noon.

I was still standing by the table and getting the last things ready, when Asuna mumbled and moaned as she sat up in bed and stretched, yawning loudly as she slowly returned from dreamland. She blinked to wake herself up a few times before looking over at me, where her eyes immediately sprung up from surprise.

On the table were a sea of several breakfast dishes, from grilled sausages to bacon and scrambled eggs. She smiled widely and jumped out of bed, any sign of her being sleepy long gone, as she sprinted over and hugged me tightly.

"You´re simply the best Kazuto!" She squeeled happily as she stared at the food hungrily "Is this roomservice?"

"It sure is!" I said with a smirk "You know I can´t cook! I couldn´t have made all of this"

"But, wasn´t it really expensive?" She mumbled as she looked back at me with a worried expression.

I Simply smiled and pecked her cheek.

"Nothing´s too expensive for you. I keep telling you" I said with a smile as I sat down "Now are we going to eat or what?"

"Of course, of course" She said with a smile.

She sat down beside me with a hungry expression, but kissed my cheek before digging into the food.

"Thanks Kazuto" She whispered as she began putting pancakes on her plate.

" No problem hun" I mumbled as I took a big bite out of my eggs.

"Huh? Hun?" She asked surprised as she looked up from her plate with a small blush.

"What? You don't like it?" I asked as I tilted my head at her in wonder.

"N-No that´s not it…" She said with a shy smile "I-It´s just… You´ve never called me that before"

"Well, I´ll be sure to say it from now on then" I said with a smile as I continued to eat.

~Meanwhile, in The Hall Outside~

The waiter had just delivered a cart of breakfast to the room, and was wheeling his cart down the hall with a bright smile on his face. He wasn´t what he looked like though, and when he rounded the corner, and had looked around to make sure no one was watching him, he pulled out a walkie-talkie from his sleeve, whispering into it with a smirk.

"Boss, I´m in position" He whispered softly, covering his voice with his hand.

"Good work" Sugou´s voice clearly resounded from the walkie-talkie "Did they have any kind of suspicion?"

"Of course not boss" the guy said with a small chuckle "Kirigaya-kun is in his seventh heaven right now. Not even the slightest worries"

"That is good then" Sugou said with a chuckle as well "That means he won´t come home to foil my plans then"

"Hey boss, I´ve been thinking," The henchman mumbled "What are those plans exactly?"

"I don´t really pay you to think or to ask questions" Sugou said with an arrogant huff "But you´ll see soon enough. Everything is going according to plan"

~Back at Kazuto and Asuna´s room~

We had just finished breakfast, and I leaned back in my seat, putting both of my hands on my stomach, totally stuffed.

"Whew… This place might beat even your cooking Asuna" I mumbled softly.

"I know you´re lying" She said with a cute giggle "You love my cooking don´t you?"

"Damn. Busted again" I said with a smirk "You´re right. The food is good, but not as good as yours"

"Damn straight" She said with a smirk as she kissed my cheek "Thanks for the food though"

"Again, no problem hun" I mumbled softly as I kissed her cheek "Now, let´s go do something! I feel reenergized all over again!"

"Yeah me too" She said with a small smile "There´s just so many possibilities here, though"

"Yeah I know" I mumbled softly "But I was kind of thinking we should take it slowly today, with something relaxing"

"Oh yeah? What´s that?" Asuna asked as she began taking dishes away.

"Well, there´s this village nearby" I said with a smile "It has all kinds of booths and shops we could go check out if you want"

"That sounds great!" She said with a smirk "Maybe then I could get you a decent set of clothes"

"What?! What´s that supposed to mean!?" I shouted with a pout.

"It just means," Asuna replied with a smirk "That I could you something else than black or grey. You´re always in the same kind of outfit"

"That´s not true!" I said with a pout "I was wearing a red jacket at our date"

"Kazuto, that´s weeks ago" She said with a raised eyebrow "Ever since you´ve never even touched that jacket"

"T-That´s…" I mumbled, knowing she had hit the head on the nail "That´s true…"

"See?" She said with a smile as she pecked my forehead "Now what should I get you…? Something white maybe?"

"Oh god no!" I yelled as I almost fell down my chair "That KoB uniform was horrible enough!"

"But Kazuto you look so good in white" She mumbled, trying to tease me.

"No, no and no!" I yelled as I jumped behind the bed and hid myself "Not in a million years!"

She sighed a bit and put her hands on her hips as she pouted "Fine. No red or white. But at least let me throw SOMETHING together for you"

"Fine. One outfit" I mumbled softly. "But only if I can make one for you as well"

"Fine. Deal" She said and we shook hands to seal the deal.

With that I began tying my shoes and Asuna did the same, and she went out the door first. I smiled a bit and zipped up my jacket before looking back at my wonderful hotel room one last time, before I stepped outside, and closed and locked our hotel room door behind me, heading out towards the first wonderful day in the Himalayas with my girlfriend.

**A/N**

**Hey guys! Hope you like the chapter!**

**People just can´t let those two have some privacy huh? What do you guys think Sugou has planned?**

**The one way to find out is to keep yourself updated next Sunday.**

**See you then dear readers! :D**


	14. Chapter 14 - A Mountain Village

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 14 – A Mountain Village_

I took in a deep breath, taking in the cold and refreshing mountain air. Before my eyes were beautiful yet simple wooden lodge village, all the houses having dim lighting in their windows, and smoke coming out of their furnaces on their roofs.

Everywhere on the main street, small booths and shops were sat up, from booths with games and prizes, to eating booths with the most interesting and tasty dishes you could think of. The pleasant smells from the different booths, all mixing up into a plethora of aromas, leaving me in a dazed and hungry wonderland.

All around us small and big snow flakes alike fell, some so big you could almost make out the textures, swaying through the air as a gentle but cold breeze blew through the village, making our faces red from cold. We had made sure to stay warm though, by staying close and pressing ourselves against each other to share each other's warmth.

I smiled over at Asuna and she smiled back, her breath whitening and disappearing in the dimly lit atmosphere around us. The street lights shined from above us, making this whole area seem like one big fantasy. It was almost as beautiful as the winters of SAO. Almost.

We enjoyed the moment to the fullest, pulling each other along from shop to shop, looking at everything that was worth checking out. The village might have been small, but the townspeople and the resort workers of the nearby mountain sure knew how to make the village and the surrounding area a lot more interesting.

Speaking of the mountain, it sure was an impressive sight. This wasn´t the tallest in the Himalaya Mountain chain, but it was up there. With at least 2 kilometers of height, it looked like a giant, silently protecting the village with it´s huge mass.

The longer up my gaze wandered the more looming and dark the mountain became, eventually the top was illuminated by the clouds, floating around the top.

It made me smirk on the inside, I was getting excited, even in the peaceful atmosphere. The mountain looked challenging, in fact it looked like one giant challenge, just waiting to be beat. Or at least some of the tracks at the bottom anyway, seeing how I've never skied or snowboarded before my entire life. With that thought I sweatdropped a bit and looked back at Asuna with a soft smile.

"I can´t wait to learn how to stand on a snowboard" I said with a grin. "I´ll probably be a pro by the end of this week!"

"Ehh I don´t think so Kazuto" Asuna said with a soft smile and a giggle "It takes a lot of practice"

"What?" I asked with a confident smirk "You don´t think the black swordsman can be a pro at snowboarding?"

"I would rather see him be deadly on the battlefield, not on the ski slopes"

"That was mean" I mumbled with a pout "I might be a noob, but I´m sure it won´t be that bad"

"Whatever you say hun" Asuna said with a satisfied smirk "Just try not to kill someone when we actually go to the slopes ok? I don´t want you to go to prison"

"It doesn't suit you to be sassy you know" I said with a smile and a rise of an eyebrow.

"Huh? What do you mean?" She asked, looking over at me with a wondering expression.

"You´re better at being cute and shy" I said with a smirk.

I obtained what I wanted, which was a dark red blush from Asuna.

"S-Shut up." She mumbled softly as she covered her cheeks with her hands.

"Hehe, why?" I asked teasingly "Making you embarrassed is my specialty!"

"Well maybe you should focus more on your gaming then!" She retaliated with an adorable pout.

I Just chuckled a bit and wrapped my arm her shoulders, and softly kissed her scalp.

"Sorry Asuna" I said with a smirk "You´re just too adorable when you´re pouting"

"S-Stop it!" She mumbled "You´re doing it again"

"Sorry" I said with another smirk "How can I ever make it up to you?"

"hmm…" She said with a small smile as her blush began to disappear "A mug of hot chocolate could be nice"

"There´s a stand down the street selling drinks "I said with a smile "Here, I´ll show you"

"Why thank you" She said with a smile as she squeezed my hand a little.

We made our way through the crowd of people visiting the village, making our way to the small stand a bit down the street. It looked just like any stand would at a festival at home, except it was made of middle sized logs, and small laminated snow flakes and snowmen was hung up in brightly colored straps everywhere.

"Welcome!" The clerk said with a smile as she finished serving another customer "What can I do for you?"

Her English was a bit sloppy, but it was understandable. I sweatdropped a bit as I realized I didn´t know any English at all, trying to say what we wanted.

"U-Umm a t-two mugs of" I mumbled, nervous I might become confused and mix everything up.

Luckily Asuna knew more English than I did, and luckily she stepped up and helped me, ordering our drinks for me.

"Sure, one second" The clerk said with a bright smile.

She then went further back in her establishment, soon coming back with two big mugs of hot chocolate, the steam rising gently from the mugs.

"Here you go" she said with a smile.

I hasted to pay her and tipped her for her helpfulness, before Asuna and I made our way longer down the street. I took a sip of my chocolate, which was a mistake, since I hadn´t blown on it to cool it down yet.

"Aow! Hot, hot, hot!" I yelled surprised as I jumped around in pain.

I gulped down the chocolate I had sipped into my mouth, which was mistake number two, as I could now feel a hot pain all along my throat.

"Aow, aow!" I yelled as I jumped around like a deranged psychopath "Water! Somebody get me water!"

Asuna giggled and laughed a little as she looked around swiftly for water, quickly turning a tap that was sticking out from one of the stands.

"Here Kazuto!" She said with a laugh.

I dashed over and gave her my mug before taking hold of the tap before drinking three big mouthfuls of water, cooling my throat.

"Oh god!" I mumbled as I finally stopped drinking "I thought I was on fire!"

"Stop overreacting" Asuna said with a mild smile "It can´t have been that bad"

"Oh, but it was" I mumbled as I looked at her "Let´s just drink our chocolate and go see if anything else is interesting"

"Remember Kazuto," She said with a smirk "I still have to pick out an outfit for you"

"I know, I know" I mumbled softly as I hung my head low.

She giggled softly before she handed me my mug and I took it after a couple of deep breaths. I blew at it a bit before hesitantly taking a sip.

"Aww now I can´t taste anything because I burned my tongue!" I said with a pout as I looked down at the brown liquid.

"Aww that´s too bad" Asuna mumbled with a soft expression "You want a kiss to make up for it?"

"That will definitely do it" I said with a smirk as I leaned over to her and pecked on her lips.

"Huh? Not a long kiss?" She asked wonderingly.

"Well, you don´t want people to stare do you?" I whispered in her ear.

I Could almost feel the heat rise in her face, even though I was a bit away from her. I knew she was blushing.

"S-Shut up!" She said as she softly hit my shoulder "I-Idiot!"

"Hey, I´m helping you here!" I said with a chuckle "You should thank me, not beat the living daylight out of me!"

"What did you expect!?" She yelled at me "Saying such an embarrassing thing!"

"My god, you´re such a Tsundere!" I yelled through my laughter, leaving Asuna to proof I was right.

"I am not" She yelled in defense as her cheeks was practically burning up in embarrassment.

"Let´s save this argument for another time shall we?" I said with a grin.

"Fine. You win for now" She said with a pout.

Her pout quickly turned into a smirk though, as she pointed towards something farther down the street.

"Heeey Kazuto…" She mumbled teasingly "Look down there"

I looked at her in wonder and followed her finger, paling a bit as I realized what she was looking at.

"Oh god no…" I mumbled softly as I looked down the street "Not already!"

"Oh yes already!" She giggled softly as she yanked me down the street "Come on! We´re buying new clothes!"

"Oh god. Someone please kill me!" I yelped as she dragged me down the street, almost in a running speed.

"Oh come on Kazuto," Asuna said with a huff "You don't have to be so melodramatic"

"But it´s a clothes store!" I yelled in defense "And it´s with you! It will take hours!"

"No it won´t" She said with a smile "Come on. It´s not that bad"

With this sentence she took a bit of a stronger grip on my hand and dragged me into the store.

"If there really is a god," I mumbled as I looked upwards "May he have mercy with me!"

~A Bit Later~

"I swear," I mumbled sourly "You´re the only person I know who wonders which headband matches the best with your earrings"

I was currently watching Asuna as she was excitedly trying to pick a headband for one of the many outfits she had already decided to try on.

"Stop your bickering" She said with an excited squeal "God this is just too cute!"

She mumbled this as she held up a specific headband, which was made to look like a tiara.

"I have to admit," I mumbled as I looked at her with a smile "That would fit a princess like you"

"N-naw.." She mumbled as she blushed softly "I-I´m no princess"

"No that's true" I mumbled as I kissed her cheek "You´re a queen. You deserve a crown, not a tiara"

"K-Kazuto…" She mumbled softly, wrapping her arms around my waist "Where did you learn to seduce women?"

"I´ve had a bit of practice" I said with a smirk.

"Oh yeah? How?" She mumbled as she smirked and looked into my eyes.

"That is a secret that only me and Suguha knows" I said with a smirk "And she finds it so embarrassing that she´s never going to tell"

"Ah damn" Asuna said as she snapped her fingers "Right when I was about to get some juicy blackmail material"

"For what reason would you blackmail me?" I asked as I looked at her.

"You´ll see" She said with a smirk "There might be a secret about you I want to know"

"Tsk, you can ask me anything" I said with a smirk "I´m not afraid"

"Oh yeah?" She said with a confident expression "How old were you when you last wetted the bed?"

"U-U-Uhmm.." I mumbled, not really expecting such a question.

"I Knew it" She said with a smirk "You won´t tell. Not so brave now huh?"

"Fine, fine I´ll say it" I mumbled softly "I think it was…. Eight or nine"

"Really!?" She said as she tried to stifle a giggle. "What made you do that!?"

"W-Well I don´t quite remember" I mumbled softly "It was something about a prank Suguha and some of her friends pulled on me"

"Oh really?" Asuna asked softly "I thought Suguha was a pretty serious person. I didn´t know she was into that kind of stuff"

"Well, that was before she got really serious with kendo" I said with a smirk "We used to play pranks on each other all the time"

"Really?" She said with a giggle "I guess the prank Suguha pulled on you was revenge right?"

"I believe it was" I mumbled thoughtfully "I might have bombarded her and her friends with water balloons"

"Oh my god!" Asuna said as she pulled away and began searching for clothes again "I can almost see how it went down!"

"Let´s just say it took ages to dry everything up" I said with a chuckle.

"Haha, I can almost picture it" She said with a laugh.

We then headed towards the changing rooms and I sighed softly as Asuna handed me my new outfit.

"You´re going to try yours out first" She said with a giggle, looking at me expectantly.

"Sheesh, ok, ok" I mumbled softly as I went inside and began stripping down so I could change.

I sighed softly as I looked down at the new outfit she wanted me to wear. It wasn´t half bad actually. It did contain white, yes, but that was only the jacket and the beanie she had chosen for me. The rest of the outfit contained of a dark grey shirt and some dark jeans, and a nice necklace with a sword that looked like a cross to top it all off.

I smiled softly and chuckled softly as I began changing into my new outfit, talking to Asuna while doing so.

"Well, at least you didn´t make it look like my KoB uniform"

"Right? It´s going to look so awesome on you" She said back with confidence in her voice.

"I guess time will tell about that madam" I said jokingly as I pulled on my new jeans.

I smiled a little as I looked at myself in a small mirror placed in the changing room, trying a bunch of different poses to see how the clothes fit and how it would look at me. And I honestly couldn´t have picked a better outfit. It might have been a white jacket and beanie, but somehow it suited me. I smiled a bit and tilted my head at the new me, before stepping outside, revealing myself to Asuna.

"I knew it would look great!" She squeeled happily as she smiled widely "I just knew it!"

"Ok, ok," I mumbled admittingly "Maybe wearing white isn´t that bad after all"

"See, I told you it would look great" She said with a satisfied smirk "Mission accomplished!"

"Well, now it´s your time to commit, soldier!" I said in the deepest voice I could "Cause now it is time form MY mission, to get you dressed in dark!"

"oh no Kazuto" She mumbled, her confidence suddenly gone "You know I don´t usually wear dark colors"

"I know" I said with a smirk "Which is what will make this so much more amusing"

"I hate you sometimes" She mumbled as I went back inside the changing room.

I chuckled softly and began changing back to my old clothes.

"I love you too hun" I said teasingly as I came out of the changing room.

I smiled slightly and stepped back, handing Asuna her new clothes as she walked inside.

"No peeking now" She said with a wink before walking in and closing the door behind her.

"Oh I wouldn´t dare" I said in a teasing voice as I leaned against a nearby wall, trying to kill time.

I waited for about ten minutes before the door opened again and Asuna stepped out of the room, looking at me expectantly.

"So," She mumbled a bit nervously "How do I look?"

She was absolutely adorable in her new outfit. I had chosen a grey hoodie with a black and white cute panda on the hood, and a black set of jeans, rips along the legs. I had chosen a pair of white and black striped socks and some black running shoes for her, making her look, not like a princess like usual, but a bit of a hardcore, tomboyish girl, something I wasn´t used to see in her.

I thought it really fit her though.

"You look really adorable" I said with a smirk "I´m pretty sure you would look intimidating with a glare though"

"Oh really?" She said with a smirk as she tried a glare "How about now then?"

She glared me straight in the eye and just as I thought, she had went from a beautiful and adorned princess, to a cute yet intimidating tomboy when in the mood.

"You look so cool" I said with a smirk "Didn't I tell ya? You look great"

"Thanks handsome" She said with a smile "Now let me just try on a few more outfits and we can go pay"

"I should´ve guessed one is never enough" I said jokingly as I chuckled.

I leaned against the wall again and waited for Asuna to be finished with her changing outfits and trying out new clothes, and after a good 30 minutes or so, she was finally done and satisfied.

"All done" She said as we went up to pay for our clothes.

"I swear, women and clothes" I mumbled as I facepalmed and chuckled softly. "Why can you never sette with one outfit?"

"Because were trying to impress our boyfriends, that´s why" She retaliated with a glare.

"Fair enough" I chuckled and whipped out my card, paying for our clothes.

"A-Are you sure you should pay for this Kazuto?" Asuna mumbled worriedly "I mean, I have plenty of money, and you already payed for half of our hotel room"

"Don´t worry Asuna" I said with a smile as the clerk scanned my card "I have plenty."

"If you say so" she mumbled, still looking at me with a somewhat worried expression.

We then walked out, Asuna with several shopping bags in her hands.

"So did you have fun today?" I asked her as is miled over at her satisfied expression.

"I can only have fun with you around" She said teasingly as she smirked at me.

"Aww you, come here" I said as I pulled her in, and kissed her softly.

And as we stood there and kissed in the beautiful snow fall of the Himalayas, I felt truly blissed. Blissed for having this remote mountain village, and these precious moments, with the girl I loved.

**A/N**

**Hey guys! Hope you liked the chapter!**

**I didn´t like the end since I was running out of ideas, but meh, not every chapter ending can be as great as the last right?**

**Thank you guys so much for reading, and see you soon!**


	15. Chapter 15 - Stalking, And Bad Engrish

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 15 – Warm Love_

I was currently sitting on the bed of the hotel room, sitting quietly and looking down in a book. My focus was anywhere but the book though.

You see, We had just come back from our date in the village, and I was trying to calm down after a wonderful date, and tonight, we were going to dinner at a local restaurant about half a kilometer away from the hotel. Asuna was currently in the bathroom, taking a shower and getting ready for our next date.

I sighed softly and looked up at the many bags that was standing all around the living room.

"I can´t believe it only took an hour to get all this stuff" I mumbled "Maybe I should wear one of my new outfits.. No, that would ruin the gift of surprise for Asuna…"

I looked at my bags, then back at the shopping bags we had brought here from our date.

"hmm.. Maybe I should try that outfit" I mumbled as I stood up and grabbed an outfit I had bought in secret, so Asuna wouldn´t know.

I held it up in front of me and smiled a bit.

"Yeah… Yeah this could work" I said with a smile.

I went over to the bathroom door and knocked softly.

"Asuna? Can I ask you something?"

The soft singing that had been emanating from the bathroom stopped.

"Yeah, what is it Kazuto?" Asuna said softly.

"First, are you still in the bath?" I asked with a smirk "Second, can I come in?"

"Yes, and no!" She yelled sharply.

I chuckled softly and opened the door, just a little bit. I smirked and stuck my nose in teasefully.

"aww, why not?" I chuckled and smirked "I´m sure you´re steaming hot!"

"Stick that nose in one more centimeter," Asuna cried out "And I´m going to smack the door over it!"

"Ok, ok I get it" I said with a chuckle "I just wanted to know if it´s a fancy restaurant were going to tonight"

"I guess you can call it that, why?" Asuna asked as I could hear the water turn off.

"Oh, just curious" I said with a smile as I closed the door.

"Great, then this outfit is quite fitting" I said as I went back to my chosen outfit.

Soon Asuna came out in a t-shirt and short shorts.

"There, it´s all yours" She said with a glare as she threw me a towel.

"Aww, my princess is embarrassed" I said with a smirk "You´re not angry at me for wanting to taking a peek, are you?"

An evident blush crept onto Asuna´s cheeks and got more and more intense the more I talked.

"Pervert" She mumbled as she made her way to the closet.

I smirked a bit and snuck up behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist from behind.

"Yeah, but I´m your pervert" I whispered in her ear as I nibbled a bit on her earlobe.

A slight moan escaped her hips as she fought to push me off of her.

"S-Stop being perverted…" She mumbled weakly under her breath, her hands traveling up to my face.

"Why? I know you like this" I said teasefully "And you call me a pervert"

"T-That´s because…" She mumbled, not able to finish her sentence because of her moans.

"Because what?" I mumbled softly.

I traced my lips from her earlobe to her neck, earning even more moans from her, which motivated me to keep going.

"I-Idiot…S-Stop it" She mumbled as she desperately tried to push me off "B-Because if we don´t hurry, we won´t make it for our date"

"Ok, point taken" I said as I removed my lips from her neck. "Let me get a bath then. You can go ahead and change if you need to"

I sighed softly and smiled as I walked halfway towards the bathroom door, then turned around and smirked.

"Just watch out for the Yeti" I said, earning a pout from Asuna.

"Kazuto I´m not five years old" She mumbled "I know it doesn´t exist"

"Aww but why not?" I asked as I pouted back "I know you believed me that time in SAO, where we were walking through the forest of floor 22"

"Yeah, cause I knew basically nothing about the Cardinal system" She mumbled in a matter-of-fact tone "It could full well have been possible for the Cardinal system to create ghost images of the dead players"

"You´re no fun" I mumbled as I went into the bathroom and closed the door behind me.

"And you´re a pervert" I heard her reply before closing the door.

I chuckled softly and pulled off my clothes, throwing it in a corner before turning on the hot water. I slowly stepped inside and sighed of relaxation as the droplets of calming water hit my shoulders and ran down my body, washing me through and calming me down, almost to the point where I forgot all about time.

I sighed softly as I watched the last rays of day spill through the window outside the shower, painting the room and the ground a pleasant mix of orange and pink. I smiled softly as I applied soap to my hair, washing it thoroughly, before turning off the water and wrapping myself up in a towel, and putting on a t-shirt and underwear, heading out into the main room again to change into my outfit.

I took a quick peek over at Asuna as I entered the room, and she smiled over at me slightly.

She looked absolutely stunning, even without having put on her make-up yet. The white dress she had put on followed her body perfectly, revealing her shoulders and some of her back, and it followed the curves of her hips perfectly, leaving maybe half of it to the imagination. And my imagination was running wild at the moment.

"Well, someone seems happy to see me" She said with a smirk

She turned around and revealed her front, which again didn´t leave much to the imagination. Let´s just say it was very… Revealing, to say the least, showing off her curves even better at the front, and revealing a lot of her cleavage. I blushed a bit as I realized I had been staring the whole time, and quickly turned around to hide my embarrassed expression.

"Yeah, well, I'm always happy to see you" I mumbled, trying to save myself from embarrassment "What´s more important, what´s with that outfit? I didn´t think you would ever wear something so… Revealing"

"What you don´t like it?" She said teasefully "guess I'll put everything back then"

"No, no! That´s not what I mean!" I said surprised.

"Oh, so you do like it?" She said with a smirk "You´re so perverted"

She was just toy with me. She had total control of the situation, to my big regret.

"Shut up" I mumbled softly, an evident heat running onto my cheeks.

"Ha, now it´s my turn to tease you" She said with a smirk "Little Kazu-kun is embarrassed huh? Can´t let the chance go, now can I?"

"I have taught you too well" I say with a smirk as I change into my outfit.

I smile softly as I look at myself in the mirror.

"Hey, you´re looking good there handsome" Asuna mumbled as she wrapped arms around me from behind.

"Thanks, you´re beautiful as well Asuna" I mumbled as I stared at the happy couple that was staring back at us with happy expressions.

I actually did look good in that outfit. I had bought a white undershirt along with a dark jacket and black jeans, making it almost look like I was wearing a tuxedo. Under the jacket I was wearing a common black time, and I had set up my hair, which was someone I rarely had to do.

"We are so perfect together" Asuna mumbled as she kissed my shoulder "Your shoulders seem wider in it too"

"They do?" I mumbled softly "Didn´t even notice" I said with a smile "You ready for our date hun?"

"Yeah almost" She said with a smile "Just have to apply some make-up"

"I don´t think you need it though" I mumbled, hoping to get a blush from Asuna.

"Aww thanks Kazuto" She said as she kissed my cheek. "Give me ten minutes, and then I will be ready. I promise"

"Dang, I thought I could make you shy" I said with a smile.

I watched her walk to the bathroom, her hips swaying back and forth seductively as she looked back at me with a wink and a smile. I blushed a little and felt my heart skip a bit, which made Asuna giggle softly as she closed the bathroom door behind her.

"Tonight is going to be awesome" I said with a smile as I sat down.

I grew silent and began waiting for Asuna to finish her make-up, wondering how the night would turn out in the end.

~Outside the hotel room~

The figure outside the room had his ear pressed hardly onto the door, making sure not to miss anything from the young couple´s conversation. He frowned slightly as he removed his ear, irritated because of his predicament.

"Damn door," He mumbled softly "It´s way too thick to hear anything through."

He sighed softly and frowned softly as he looked at the door.

Do I need to put a cup towards it now?" he asked no one in particular, a certain sense of sarcasm in his voice.

"And my boss didn´t give me any equipment" He mumbled, getting more frustrated by the minute "I swear, sometimes I don´t know why I bother working for Mr. Nobuyuki"

He pinched his chin in wonder, plotting what he had to do.

Either he had to risk not listening in, and possibly lose the people he had to stalk in the village, or the other option, which was to poke his head inside the room so he at least could listen in on some of the conversation, and hopefully learn where they would be headed, so he always knew where he had to look for them.

"I don´t have a choice" He mumbled softly "Even if they DO see me I am much faster than the both of them"

He silently grabbed the doorknob and twisted.

"Damn. Locked" He mumbled with an unsatisfied growl "Lucky that I brought a lock pick"

He silently began working on the lock with the lock pick and smirked a bit as he easily unlocked the door.

"Ha, there´s not even electric security in this old place" He said victoriously "Now, to do what I actually came here to do"

He silently turned the doorknob and poked his face inside, listening as intensely as he possibly could to listen to the young couple´s conversation.

"I just wanted to know if it´s a fancy restaurant were going to tonight"

"I guess you can call it that, why?"

"Oh, just curious"

"Oh, so they´re going for dinner tonight huh?" The figure mumbled with a smirk "I can only think of one place that would be seen as fancy"

He smirked and chuckled softly as he pulled his pointy nose back out through the hall and disappeared down the hall with a smile.

He pulled out his walkie talkie and smirked as he called his boss.

"Mr. Nobuyuki sir" He whispered with a smirk "Mission accomplished. I know where they´re headed"

"Good work Shio" Sugou´s voice chimed "Don´t lose sight of them at all costs, and report to me if they suddenly decide to head home. I´ll speed up my plan if they do"

"Consider it done sir" The figure, apparently named Shio said as he closed the line.

"I wouldn´t work for that psycho," He mumbled with a regretful smirk "If he didn´t pay so well"

And with that he walked into the crowd of the lobby, and disappeared.

~back at the hotel room~

I smiled softly and kissed Asuna´s cheek as she let go of my waist. I put out my arm for her to link it with mine, and she immediately obliged, squeezing herself into me, getting as close to me as humanly possible. I smiled a bit as I kissed her forehead and looked into her eyes.

"You ready?" I asked softly.

"Of course" she mumbled back as she looked back at me with her wonderful smile.

"Then, put on your jacket and let´s go" I said with a smirk "It would be pretty cold to walk out there with bare shoulders and back right?"

"Oh so you did notice?" she asked as she went over to the closet to get her winter jacket "Pervert"

"You´re going to tease me all night aren´t you?" I asked as I sweatdropped and blushed.

"Yup, as much as I can" She answered with a giggle.

"Thought so," I said as I smiled at her "I don´t hate it though. It´s one of your cute sides"

She was standing with her back against me but I could still tell that a blush was creeping onto her cheeks, since she fell silent. I smiled a bit as soon as she had put on her jacket and lead her out of the hotel room, locking the door behind me with my door card.

~In the village~

I smiled a bit as I looked around me in wonder. The village was even more beautiful at night time, and still buzzing with life. Lights was glimmering all around me, and the small talk of hundreds of tourists was humming silently in the back of my head, creating a peaceful atmosphere for everyone to enjoy.

When I looked over at Asuna, I noticed she was shivering, her gentle breath turning into ice crystals as she wrapped herself closer and closer to me for warmth. I smiled slightly and took off my own jacket, handing it to Asuna.

"Here" I said with a gentle smile "It might be a bit hard to wear two jackets, but at least it will keep you warm"

"Huh?" She asked surprised as I wrapped my jacket around her shoulders "Don´t you need this?"

"Nah, I'm fine" I said with a smirk "I´m plenty used to the cold, and my shirt is actually pretty thick. I´ll be fine"

"If you say so" She mumbled as a small smile was created on her lips.

She wrapped my jacket around her own as best as she could, sighing softly as it already began to help on her cold.

"Thanks Kazuto" She mumbled as she leaned in and planted a big kiss on my cheek.

I blushed a bit and smirked as I looked at her.

"If being gentle and romantic grants these kind of rewards," I said with a chuckle "I might stop teasing you from now on"

"There´s more where that came from, I´ll guarantee that" She said with a smirk.

I nodded softly and pulled her closer to me as we made our way through the village, and began seeing the restaurant in the distance.

~At the restaurant~

"A table for two please" Asuna said with a gentle smile at the receptionist in fluid english "Under the name, Yuuki"

"This way miss" The woman said with a bright smile as she led us inside.

The kind receptionist led us inside and smiled as two waiters came over and pulled out the seats for us.

'Damn, missed an opportunity to be romantic' I thought to myself 'I had planned to pull out the seat for Asuna. Oh well'

I smiled softly at the waiter as he pulled out my chair and I sat down politely, looking around as the waiters set everything up. They put two menu cards on the table, one in front of each of us, and a glass of water.

"Please, call a waiter when you´re ready to order" The waiter bowed and left us to ourselves.

I looked down at the at the menu card, and got lost in all the letters. I couldn´t understand a word. Everything was written in either Nepalese or English, and they both had strange letters I couldn´t understand at all.

"Uh Kazuto?" Asuna asked as she looked over at me "You need help?"

I blushed a little and gritted my teeth slightly in frustration as I stared down into the menu card.

"N-No.. I got this" I mumbled, embarrassed that I didn´t understand English

"Kazuto, this is difficult English names" Asuna said with a giggle "It´s no wonder you don´t understand it if you haven´t studied it yourself"

"Y-Yeah I guess that makes sense" I mumbled as I sighed "Ok, I´m coming over"

I stood up and brought over my menu card, handing it to Asuna and looking over her shoulder.

"Good boy" She said with a giggle as she took my menu card "It´s very fancy dishes too, so don´t beat yourself up over it"

"Yeah, ok" I mumbled "But I need to learn English in the future, if I want to develop my own games someday"

"I guess you will need to brush up on your English studies then" She said with a smile.

She then began to explain what all the different dishes was, what the consisted of, and what the different prices was.

"Hmm… " I mumbled, pondering my decisions "I´ll have that uhh, how do you say that… P-Pa-sta dish? Is that how it´s pronounced?"

"Almost, but you´ll get there" She said with a giggle "I think I'll have the same then"

I smiled and sat down at the opposite side of the table, looking over at my beautiful angel of a girlfriend as we began waiting for a waiter to come over and take our orders.

**A/N**

**Hey guys! Hope you liked this chapter! **

**I have important news to tell you guys, so you better read carefully :D**

**This following weekend I will be going on a school trip to Prague, so next week there will be no uploads to any of my Fanfictions. *sad face***

**But I will try and upload two chapters the week after that, so do not fret! I have not forgotten you! **

**If I can´t manage to do that however, please don´t send a mob after me. I really don´t need that! xD**

**See you next time, and keep reading!**


	16. Chapter 16 - Confrontation

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 16 – Confrontation_

I smiled softly over at Asuna as we finished our last dish in our romantic dinner. I sighed softly and leaned back into my seat, completely stuffed.

"ooOoOoh…" I moaned softly as I rubbed my stomach "I should have stopped after the third dish…"

"That´s what you get," Asuna simply stated as she sipped her tea "for wolfing down your food…"

"Shut up…" I mumbled softly "You looked pretty hungry at dish number 2, too"

"But at least I was eating with care" She mumbled softly as she smiled over at me "Come on, let me see a smile, why don´t you?"

I rolled my eyes at her and smiled a bit "hehe, I guess I can do that" I mumbled as I smiled at her sweetly.

"There you go" she said with a smile "That´s the smile I want to see"

"You´re too good to me sometimes" I said with a smile "I still don´t like you want to pay for all of this"

"Well, that´s what´s going to happen" She said with a smile ""Don´t worry, I have more than enough money"

"But, shouldn´t the man be the one to pay?" I asked as I sat up properly in my seat.

"Maybe, but," She said as she raised a finger "you payed last time, so I'll pay this time"

"I guess that is fair…" I mumbled "I guess I can let you pay this time. Though it won´t happen again"

"Oh, why it will" She said with a chuckle as the waiter arrived with the bill, and she happily payed it.

I was still worried about the price. But when she said it was alright, I guess it was alright.

I smiled over at Asuna as she stood up from the table, and I followed suit, with a bright smile. I smiled and tangled arms with my princess as we headed out of the restaurant, smiling a bit as I held her close to me.

"You´re really warm Kazuto" She mumbled softly as she looked at me with worry "You sick or something?"

"Huh? No, I´m fine hun" I said softly as I looked at her "I don´t know what you´re talking about"

"You sure hun?" She mumbled as she put a hand on my forehead "You seem really hot…"

"N-No, I´m fine Asuna" I said softly "I feel a little warm, but otherwise I´m fine"

"I-If you say so Kazuto" She mumbled with a worried expression "Just tell me if you feel bad or anything, ok?"

"Of course hun" I said with a smile and a nod "You don´t have to worry so much about me, you know"

"I know, it´s just-" Asuna mumbled softly "It´s just that I care about you…"

"I know hun, I care about you too" I said with a smile "But care can quickly turn to overprotectiveness"

"Yeah, that´s true" She mumbled softly in response "I guess I worry a bit too much"

"Yeah," I said as I kissed her cheek " Your care makes you even cuter though"

She blushed deep red and pushed me away playfully as she giggled.

"S-Shut up! You´re making me blush!"

"Aww, little Asuna is getting embarrassed huh?"

"S-Shut up!"

"Sorry hun!"

I smirked a bit and kissed her cheek again before we began walking back to our hotel. On the way there I stopped in my tracks and smiled a bit as I remembered something.

"Hey! Actually, there´s something I want to show you, Asuna"

"Oh really?" She asked surprised "What is it Kazuto!?"

"Well, if I told you now, it wouldn´t be a surprise, now would it?"

"Yeah that´s true.." She mumbled softly.

"Come on, I´ll take you there" I said with a smile as I lead her on by the hand.

After a while we arrived at a mountain peak, not long from the village. I smiled a bit as I let her up to a small snow covered bench, not long from a big chasm in the mountain. I smiled a bit as we sat down, and I looked up at the sky.

"Try looking up" I said with a smirk.

She did what I told her and widened her eyes a bit from wonder.

"W-What the…" She mumbled astonished "Wow, the sky is so clear around here! How did you know about this place!?"

"Weeelll.." I said with a teaseful smirk "I may or may not have searched about some things about this place on the internet before we got here…"

"You jerk, you should have told me!" She said with a teaseful punch on my arm "It´s very beautiful Kazuto…"

"Right?" I said with a caring smile "It said on the internet that this was one of the most popular sites for couples… It´s a miracle we have it all to ourselves"

"C-Couples!?" She exclaimed surprised "S-So you´re saying…"

"What? What is it?" I asked as I looked over at her.

"S-So you´re saying,,," She mumbled, blushing deep red "Y-You want to…"

"Make out?" I said teasefully.

"N-No! That´s not what I was going to say!" She yelled at me.

I chuckled softly and smiled at her "Well, what is it then? What we´re you going to say?"

"W-Well, what I was trying to say was," She said with a blush "You we´re trying to be romantic with me?"

"Well yes, that was the plan" I said with a smirk "If you want to I mean"

"W-Well this is the right.. Environment I guess" She mumbled, as she leaned her head on my shoulder.

I smiled softly and wrapped an arm around her shoulders softly. I shifted a bit closer to her and smiled as I felt her arms wrap around my waist lovingly, and I chuckled softly as I felt how we both began to relax and calm down.

I began to tell her all about the starsigns we could see in the sky, as well as telling about which was my very own lucky star.

"You see the star right beside the Sagittario?" I asked softly as I pointed upwards "That´s my lucky star"

"Why that one, especially?" Asuna asked softly.

"Well, let me tell you a little story" I mumbled as I cleared my throat.

"You see, back when I was still practicing kendo" I started out "My grandfather always complimented me on my accuracy with a sword. When we we´re out stargazing one night, he showed me the Sagittarius. And he told me I almost had just as great accuracy as him. Almost. Which is why he picked out a star so close to the Sagittarius. Because my accuracy was so close to being the same as the Sagittarius"

"Wow…" Asuna mumbled dreamily "I thought you told me he beat you up when you quit kendo"

"Yeah, he did" I said with a small smile "But I guess he was hurt when I gave up on something he found really important"

"Yeah, I kind of understand how he felt" She mumbled as she leaned against me "Have you ever talked to him about it?"

"Guess I never had the chance before I was caught in SAO"

"Then, that´s what you´re going to do when we get home!" Asuna said with a determined voice "You´ll have to get back on good terms with your grandfather!"

"It´s been many years since we fought though" I said with a regretful tone "I doubt he even wants to talk to me…"

"Well, you never know until you try" She said with an optimistic tone "Maybe he´s been waiting for you to approach him about this"

"Yeah, maybe" I mumbled as I looked over at her with a smile "You are really goof with motivational speeches you know"

She blushed a little and chuckled softly.

"Well, I have to be" She said as she smiled "Or else I can´t cheer up my boyfriend when he´s sad"

"Aww, you´re such a romantic" I said with a smile as I pulled her closer to me.

I smiled softly as I looked into her eyes, our faces only about an inch apart. I smiled and softly pecked on Asuna´s lips.

"You´ve got to be every man´s dream" I whispered softly, the wind picking up a bit around us.

I chuckled softly as I saw a slight blush creep along Asuna´s cheeks. She smiled softly and didn´t bother to repel, as she had fallen into the moment by now.

"And you are the most handsome swordsman, ever" She mumbled softly as she kissed me back.

This time it was my time to blush a little, though I was normally the one to tease.

"Thank you hun" I mumbled as I pulled her in for another passionate kiss.

We enjoyed our moment together for a long while. The more I sat there with her, and the more passionate and loving we got, the more excited I became. I could feel how the ecstatic electricity rush through my body, and it got more and more intense as time passed, and I felt how much we both needed each other, craved each other. Asuna´s behavior approved of this as she clawed at my clothes, pulling me closer to her.

The cold winds of the mountain drifted away whatever few clouds had spotted the nightsky, and I smiled as the starlit sky got even brighter and clearer. As we pulled away from our kiss, I smiled and looked up at the sky. Just as I did a beautiful flash of light ran across the sky, in a white line of beauty.

"Hey, Asuna?" I asked softly.

She was hiding her face in my shoulder, blushing a bit from the way we got close. She smiled softly and revealed her face, looking at me with a cute expression.

"Yeah, Kazuto?"

"Look up there"

Asuna looked at me with a wondering expression, looking upwards like I told her to. Just as she did, another three lines of glowing white followed the first one. The lines glowed a beautiful white, running in what looked like a perfect line, right after the other.

"Those shooting stars…" I mumbled softly "Kind of remind me of your nickname and attacks in SAO, Asuna"

"W-What do you mean Kazuto?" She asked surprised.

"Well, lightning fast and in a perfect line," I said with a smirk "Maybe they should have called you shooting star strike, Asuna instead"

"S-Shut up Kazuto" She mumbled with a pout "I have a perfect nickname for you too, though"

"Oh, and what is that?" I asked as I smiled at her.

"Reckless sword!"

"What!? What is that supposed to mean!?" I asked, baffled by the teasing nickname.

"You mean you don´t remember how you recklessly took on the floor 74 boss alone with your two swords!?"

"B-But that was only after you charged in, without thinking I might add!" I retaliated.

She huffed a bit and smiled at me teasefully.

"Shut up and let me have this moment, dummy"

She mumbled this as she buried herself even more into myself, absorbing my warmth. I chuckled softly as I leaned my head on her shoulder and held her even closer, wanting us both to keep warm.

"Sorry hun" I said softly as I breathed in and looked up at the sky "Truly perfect…"

After a while Asuna began to shiver of cold, and we decided to head on back to the hotel. We we´re laughing and talking lively of all kinds of things as we headed down the hallway, but I gasped a bit and held Asuna back as I saw something around the corner.

A guy in a hooded shirt, was sitting by our door, and trying to lockpick his way inside!

"HEY!" I yelled loudly, almost making the guy jump "What are you doing!?

The guy, startled as he was, looked over at me with a panicked look.

"Oh shit!" He yelled as stood onto his feet.

He tried to take off down the hallway, but he tripped over his feet, landing hard on the soft carpet, his gear landing and scattering all around her.

"Shit!" He hissed as he started picking up his gear in a frenzy.

Asuna stayed behind as I walked over to the guy with an angry growl, grabbing him by the collar and slamming him into the nearby wall.

"Tell me what the hell you were doing," I said with a growl as I raised my fist "And I might let you see the light of day again!"

The guy gulped nervously as he looked me deep in the eyes. Sweat ran down his face as he looked at me with a frightened appearance.

"Y-You can´t scare me boy" He said with a rebellious growl.

This only managed to piss me off even more though. I raised my fist and was about to hit the guy, but Asuna stepped up beside me.

"Kazuto, stop!" She pleaded as she stepped up to me "This isn´t you. You´re not like this!"

"Ok, ok, I´ll tell!" The guy yelled as he gulped down whatever spit was left in his mouth "I´ll tell you everything, if you just put me down!"

"Fine." I growled as I tossed him aside. "You´re quite light for your size. Now talk!"

"Ok, ok!" He yelled in a panic.

He sat up properly and cleared his throat for a moment before beginning to talk.

"Sugou is after you guys… He´s back home, plotting for his revenge!"

"What the hell does that mean!?" I yelled threateningly "Sugou is in prison! What the hell are you talking about!?"

"Hehe, he has more power than you could even dream of, boy" He said, with an uncomfortable smirk "He escaped. And ever since, he has been watching you. Plotting how he will make you suffer!"

I grabbed the guy by the collar again and held my hand to his throat.

"If you don´t tell me what he´s doing, right now," I yelled " I swear to god, I will kill you!"

"Hehe… He is Japan… He´s attacking your families…"

Me and Asuna both gasped and I stared into the guys eyes.

"No.. Mom, dad, brother…" Asuna whispered softly as she put a hand over her mouth in despair.

"Suguha… Midori…" I mumbled, fearing that it might already be too late.

"oh, and did I mention" The guy continued with a smirk "It´s not only your families… Whoever you love, including your friends, is his targets as well"

"You can´t be serious!" I growled as I got more and more furious and desperate.

"Oh, but I am completely serious" He said with a smirk "And he is about to go ahead with his plan."

"Dammit! We have to go home Asuna!" I yelled desperately as I let go of the guy and turned to Asuna.

Asuna, with tears in the corners of her eyes, nodded a bit.

"Y-Yeah…" She managed to mutter as she sprinted through the door to our room and began packing desperately.

"Asuna, forget about that! We have to get home!" I yelled loudly "Just get our passports and our wallets, and let´s get the hell out of here!"

"R-Right! I´ll tell the staff to bring our stuff back to Japan!" She yelled as she grabbed our wallets and passports, and closed the door behind her.

By this time the guy I had just confronted was long gone, his tools of burgling still sprawled all over the floor. I growled a little and clenched my fist as I looked across the hall, noticing an open window, it´s curtains fluttering silently from the cold wind outside.

"That little slimy…" I growled as I watched the cold snowflakes fall into the hallway, and evaporate on the warm carpet.

~Back at Japan~

"Hehehe…" Sugou chuckled softly as he approached the Kirigaya household.

He smirked a bit as he brandished his weapons from his jacket pockets, a gun and a knife in each of his hands. He smirked a bit as he took a few more steps towards the household.

"Well, it´s not a mansion" Sugou mumbled as he stared at the building "But I can see that, that bastard doesn´t come from no poor family"

He smirked as he took another step towards his target running his fingers over the thin and cold steel of his knife.

"Soon… Very soon, Kazuto Kirigaya" He mumbled as he smirked.

He cut into his own thumb on purpose, letting his own dark red blood seep out from the newly created wound in his thumb, and letting it run down the handle and blade of the large hunting knife, leaving it blood red.

"Soon Kirigaya-kun" He smirked as he licked his cut finger "Soon, my blood isn´t the only blood that will stain this knife"

He chuckled a bit to himself as he clawed at his shirt, his laughter momentarily growing into a psychopathic and hysteric laughter .

"I´ll finally get revenge for what you took from me" He said as he swung his blade around "All that money… You stole all that, along with Yuuki-san, when you threw me into prison…"

He clawed at his head, trying to rip out his own hair from it.

"All those days in an empty cell…" he mumbled as he stared down at his weapons "All those days... All that pain and suffering…"

He smirked a bit, a smirk reaching from ear to ear, stretched across his face as he began walking up to the house.

"You are so lucky," he said, slowly, breathing heavily "To be able to feel all of that pain, in one singular moment… Before I kill you, and everyone you love"

And with these last threatening words he stepped onto the porch, ringing the doorbell. He smirked a bit as he heard the soft voice of a female calling out.

"I´m coming!"

He readied himself and his weapons for what was about to happen. For the confrontation he had been planning for.

**A/N**

**Hey guys! Hope you liked this chapter!**

**So… Yeah, shit´s going down next chapter, I won´t say anything else :D**

**Just know, that I will upload two chapters of both Corpse Party and Sword Art Online this Sunday, so the next chapter won´t be far from this one, so, stay excited!**

**Oh and another thing.**

**THIS FANFIC JUST HIT 50 FREAKIN FOLLOWERS!**

**I can´t believe I got so far with this, or that so many people would follow it. And on top of that I have almost as many favorites! *Screams with joy***

**Thank you guys so much! It has been incredible to write for you guys for almost a year now. Seriously, thank you ever so much.**

**See you next week, and I love you!**


	17. Chapter 17 - The Unforeseen Enemy

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 17 – The Unforeseen Enemy_

I didn´t close a single eye on the plane that night. I had tried calling my family several times, but no one picked up the phone when I tried. Asuna tried her best to contact her family as well, but those attempts only had the same results. We had been in such a hurry to get home, that we even left our baggage in Himalaya.

On the plane back home I got more and more anxious. I wanted to believe that what the guy had said was nothing but a prank, or a joke, but deep down I knew it was not. Sugou was back, and he was targeting our families and friends.

When we arrived back in Japan, the wheels of the plane barely even touched the ground before me and Asuna jumped off, much to the flight attendants dismay. We sprinted through the airport and out to the two taxis we had called for in advance, making the drivers race each of us back to our respective residences.

Me and Asuna had agreed that we would save time, and manage to save more people, if we split up and went home to our separate homes.

So when my driver arrived at my house, I sprinted up to the looming building in front of me.

Normally this was a place I would happily return to. This place was a place I considered my home, my safe heaven. But now, I was afraid to step onto that familiar porch, and push open that familiar door. Never before had I been so afraid.

I could feel my heartbeat increase merely from the looming atmosphere around me, when I almost slipped on the porch step when I sprinted up to the front door.

I panted slightly and ripped the door open, stepping inside in a panicked hurry.

"Mom!? Suguha!?"

I yelled their names desperately as I stepped into the dark hallways.

"Something is wrong! Sugou must have…"

I didn´t dare to even finish the sentence. I stepped from the entranceway to the living room, when I suddenly heard a muffled moan from somewhere nearby.

"Suguha!? Mom!?" I yelled loudly as I listened intensely.

I followed the muffled moans to the kitchen where I found my mom and my sister, bound by the hands, my mother leaning against a wall with a bleeding from her head, and Suguha with a bullet wound in her leg and a wound from a knife in her hip.

"Oh god…" I mumbled as I hurried over and unbound my family, my sister sobbing silently as she kept holding onto my arm.

"Kazuto…" She said softly and moaned as I unbound my mother, who was currently unconscious.

"I-It´s ok Sugu" I mumbled, barely able to contain my tears "E-Everything will be alright"

I hugged my sister tightly.

"What happened Sugu?"

"I-I can´t remember everything" She mumbled as she rubbed her head "The doorbell rang, so I opened it. I remember the guy on the other side opened it harshly and I hit my head… He forced both me and mom into the kitchen… He hit her… And, he shot and stabbed me… But I can´t remember his face…"

My gaze shifted from her face to her forehead, and only now I noticed the deep bruise she had by her eyebrow.

"It´s ok" I mumbled as I ripped my jacket in order to make a makeshift bandage "I´ll make the bleeding stop"

I bandaged her wounds and looked her deep in the eyes.

"Is mom okay?" I asked softly as I began tending to my mother´s wound.

"I think so, he only hit her" She mumbled as she winched slightly from pain.

"Good, I don´t want to lose any of you right now" I said with a frown.

`Come on Kazuto, you need to be strong right now` I thought to myself `Your family and friends depend on you`

"Kazuto…" Suguha suddenly mumbled.

I looked over at her and was confused by her terrified expression. She pointed up behind me at fearful silence, and I turned and saw what she meant.

"You…" I mumbled silently "You just had to come back didn´t you"

Sugou stood there, with a satisfied smirk and dark chuckle, as he cleaned the blade of a blood dripping knife with a finger. In his belt a small handgun sat, smoke silently rising from it.

"I must say Kazuto," he said as he stared at me "when you want to protect something, you certainly get some speed in those legs. I can´t believe you made it back so fast"

"Not fast enough" I said with a silent growl "You managed to hurt my family before I caught your rat of an employee at our hotel in the Himalaya"

"Yeah, it´s most unfortunate" he said with an arrogant shrug "I had big plans for him. Though I don´t have use of no good employees"

"I don´t care about that" I growled as I stood up "I only care about killing you, or setting you behind bars"

"Well, you seem confident at least," he said with a chuckle "I like that"

"Shut up!" I yelled in anger as I stepped forward aggressively "How dare you hurt my family!? They have nothing to do with it!"

"Oh yeah?" He said with a sudden hateful expression "As I remember, your friends, AND your sister, helped you out of the ALO, if I´m not mistaken"

"The prison, YOU, decided to keep me in!" I growled in fury "You were the one torturing me, day after day!"

"Because you absolutely had to ruin everything!" He yelled back as he swung his knife around "You absolutely had to make Asuna fall in love with you, didn´t you?! All that money, all those opportunities, gone in an instant!"

"You´re a monster!" I yelled in disbelief "You only wish to use her for your own selfish needs!"

"That´s right you little worm…" He mumbled with a hysteric laughter "And that is the only reason I want to kill you, and everyone you love as well. I want to have my bloodlust satisfied"

"You evil bastard.." I growled angrily, keeping my eyes at his knife "If you dare touch my family again… I will kill you"

"Hehe, says the same guy who was pleading for mercy at my hand" Sugou said with an arrogant smirk "If you´re so confident, why don´t you just go for it?"

I knew he had an advantage right now. Not only did he have a knife, but if things would get bad for him he would definitely use his gun. He was dangerous right now, and he knew he had all the best advantages.

"I will not let you hurt my family again Sugou" I growled threateningly "I can guarantee you that"

"Oh really?" He mumbled selfsatisfied "And how will you do that?"

"With the help of the people that stand me near" I mumbled, thinking about my friends.

"Oh, right, them" He mumbled "I planned to kill those maggots too, didn´t I?"

"That´s what your henchman told us, yes" I mumbled, not sure where he was going this.

"Well, you remember my assistant right?" He said with a smirk. "The one who helped me torture you in the real world?"

Oh no. I had completely forgotten about her.

"no.. You´re not saying what I think you´re saying"

"That´s right" He said with a smirk "She´s currently at Asuna´s house, making short work of her AND her family. And soon, it´s your friends turn"

I widened my eyes a bit as I heard what he said. Asuna and all I held dear was still in great danger, even when Sugou was here, with me.

"Damn you…" I growled angrily "I´ll just have to trust Asuna to stop your assistant, then"

"We´ll see if that trust is put in the wrong place then" He said with a smirk "Now, come here so I can kill you!"

He dashed forward and swung his knife at me, and I dodged. He laughed maniacally as I kept dodging his attacks left and right, the blade lightly gracing my skin from time to time, making blood drops fall onto the floor and the kitchen counter.

"Kazuto!" Suguha yelled as she watched our battle go on.

"Suguha!" I yelled back "Take mom, and get out of here, now!"

"But what about you!?" I heard from her as I barely dodged another swing from Sugou´s knife.

"Don´t worry, I´ll be fine!" I yelled, desperate to get her out of here "I just need you to trust me!"

"I-I trust you Kazuto…" She mumbled as she watched us with horror in her expression.

She stood up and pulled her mother onto her back the best she could, before starting to move towards the door. She looked back over her shoulder and back at he as I fought against Sugou.

"Good luck Kirito"

Before she ran out of the house.

"Good, nothing to distract me from you now" Sugou said with a smirk.

He didn´t even think about anything else but me.

"Come at me. I have a failsafe system ready" I said with a smirk.

"Huh? Failsafe system?" He asked, stopping his attacks for a moment "What the hell do you mean by that?"

"You see" I said with a smirk "Before I got here I called my friends and told them all about this. Klein has called the police, and their on their way"

"You stubborn little brat" He hissed through his teeth, a smirk forming on his lips "I´ll just have to kill you before they arrive then"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, someone knocked the knife out of Sugou´s hand with a stick. Sugou hissed slightly as he rubbed his sore hand, as he looked at his attacker.

"Hey Kirito, long time no see"

I smirked slightly as my backup had arrived, and just in time. Klein stood there with a smirk on his face as he looked over at me.

"Good to see you too Klein" I said with a smirk "Would you mind helping me kick this guy´s ass?"

"With pleasure" He mumbled as he sprinted towards Sugou.

He pushed Sugou against the kitchen wall, fighting with him over control of the long, staff-like stick. They fought for a while but as I had expected, Klein seemed to be stronger than the office worker that was Sugou. Klein quickly gained dominance and smirked as he looked over at me.

"Take the gun, before he has a chance to use it" He yelled with a frown as he almost was pushed back by Sugou.

"Got it!" I growled as I dashed forward to help Klein fight Sugou.

Even though he was a creep, Sugou was surprisingly strong. He still managed to battle with both me and Klein for about a minute or so before I managed to grab the gun in his belt and pulling out the magazine, before throwing both things across the floor.

Sugou´s confident, psychotic and arrogant attitude changed as soon as he realized he was outnumbered as well. He turned scared and begging, which let me get much more dominance, enabling me to take him by myself. I grabbed his collar and slammed him towards the wall, as he offered no resistance what so ever, having lost his confidence and will to do anything.

"Klein, give me that knife" I growled, focusing intense on staring down Sugou.

"W-What!?" Klein said surprised "W-What are you-"

"Just give me that damn knife!" I yelled in a commanding tone.

Klein was taken slightly aback by my behavior, but did as I said.

"Geez, you didn´t have to be like that" He mumbled as he handed me the razor sharp knife.

"Thanks" I mumbled silently as I felt the handle of the knife in the palm of my hand.

I closed my hand around the knife´s handle and growled, trying to seem as threatening and dangerous as I possibly could.

"If you ever, EVER, touch my family or friends again," I growled loudly "I swear to god I will make sure you wish you never met me! Do you understand what I´m saying!?"

He nodded quickly and I let go of his collar, letting him drop to the floor. I growled softly and threw the knife along the ground, making sure it was long out of Sugou´s reach.

"I hope Asuna is doing as well as I am" I mumbled softly as I watched the crying Sugou with an angry huff.

"Go find her man" Klein said with a smile "I´ll keep an eye on this guy"

"You sure you can do that Klein?" I asked as I looked at him "I mean, he is a really sneaky snake you know"

"It´s fine" he said with a smirk "Go protect your girlfriend. I can take this guy if he tries anything funny"

"Thanks man" I said sincerely as I bumped my fist into his.

"No problem" He said with a confident smirk "we´re best friends after all"

I nodded at him appreciatively before making a mad dash out of the door and into the street, taking off towards Asuna´s residence.

"I hope nothing has happened when I get there" I mumbled softly.

~Asuna´s POV~

I looked up at my home, a sickening feeling of worry and nervousness filling my stomach, twisting it around itself.

I gulped a bit as I silently stepped up onto the porch and slowly pushed the front door to my home open, my fear of the sight I would possibly find inside making me not want to go inside. I knew I had to though, if I wanted to confirm my family´s safety.

"I wonder how Kazuto is doing…?" I mumbled silently to myself as I stepped into the entranceway.

I didn´t even bother to take off my shoes like I usually did, my focus completely set on finding my family.

"Mom? Dad?" I called out, hoping they would answer me "Big brother?"

When no one answered though I nervously gulped again, and silently made my way further into the house, the floorboards creaking slightly under my feet. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down as I made my way into the house, my nervousness rapidly growing with every step that I took.

"Geez, this is giving me the creeps" I mumbled silently to myself "And in my own house"

Suddently I heard a loud, female voice from behind.

"That´s exactly what I'm going for, so great!"

I spun around and looked at what seemed to be the same female person that I had watched torture my boyfriend along with Sugou, maybe a month ago.

"You!?" I exclaimed angrily as I watched the girl intensely, to make sure she wouldn´t be able to surprise me.

"Yes, it´s me" She said with a giggle as she approached me slowly "It´s quite a nice home you have Asuna. Shows what can happen when you own such amounts of money as your family does"

"Thanks, but I´m not here to discuss interial value" I said with a growl "Where is my family?"

"Oh you don´t have to worry about that" she answered with a giggle "I have taken good care of them"

"Where are they you psycho!?" I yelled loudly, her attitude pissing me off.

"Relax princess, I haven´t hurt them" She said with a laugh "At least not yet. I wanted the main target to arrive first"

"I would be guessing I´m the main target then?" I said with a huff "You people are sick in the head!"

"Yeah we are, and it´s fantastic" She said with a smirk "You should try it sometime. It´s great"

She pissed me off the more she talked. She was so arrogant and confident in herself. She didn´t expect I had any kind of chance against her. I´d show her who´s boss.

"Alright, let´s just get this over with" I mumbled as I stood in a battle stance, resembling the one I normally took when I was about to fight in SAO "Come at me!"

"Oh, the princess is confident is she!?" she hissed through her front teeth "Let´s go then!"

I stood in battle position and waited. Waited for her to make a move. I had to keep watch at every little movement she would make, if she would shift position on her foot I needed to see it, cause it could indicate that she was about to attack.

I didn´t even know if she had any weapons as well, so I had to think about that as well.

"DIE, DIE, DIE!" She yelled suddenly as she dashed forward, thrusting a blade at my face.  
Lucky I decided to take those self defense classes when I did. I knew exactly what to do at such an attack. Her attack was so predictable and easy to dodge, it was easy to tell she hadn´t had any kind of martial arts training.

I dodged to the side and grabbed hold of her arm, using her own weight against her as I stood on my tip toes and throwing her over my shoulder. I smirked a bit as she slammed onto the ground hardly, and I twisted her arm unnaturally as I quickly locked her arm in position, making her unable to get out of this position.

"Aow, Aow, aow! She yelled loudly as she struggled to get out of my arm lock "Let go of me you bitch!"

"Hehe, not about to happen!" I yelled as I grabbed hold of the hood on her shirt "Now let´s see who you actually are!"

I pulled backwards in her hood and gasped when I saw who it was. The shock of the reveal made me let go of her arm and she stood up and dusted herself off, before turning around to face me. It was Ichido. Sachi´s sister. Me and Kazuto had both interacted with her in SAO, after Sachi died, but I never thought she would do something like this.

"I-I-Ichido?" I mumled silently.

The girl smirked a bit and chuckled softly as stood and looked at me.

"Oh Asuna" she mumbled as she swung her blade around "There´s still a lot you don´t know about me"

**A/N**

**Aaaand I´ll have to let it end there guys! Hope you haven´t gotten too mad at me for leaving it at a cliffhanger! :D**

**And just to be clear, Ichido is an original character I have created myself, and she isn´t actually a part of the canon story.**

**Again guys, thank you so much for 50 followers and 49 favorites on my SAO fanfic. You guys are just amazing! **

**Without further ado, I bit you farewell. See you guys next week!**


	18. Chapter 18 - Hatred From The Past

_Sword Art Online_

_After The incident_

_Chapter 18 – Hatred From The Past_

~Kirito´s POV~

I ran down the steps of the porch, two steps at a time, and began running down the street. I ran down the street as fast as I could, fully determined to reach Asuna´s house before anything happened to her and her family. I was beginning to feel the burn in my lounges climb in intensity, but I kept going. My determination to protect the people I held dear was what kept me going.

I was panting slightly when arrived at Asuna´s home, and I dashed up her porch steps, ripping the front door and making a haste inside.

"Asuna!?" I called out desperately, not getting anything in response. "Asuna!?"

I began making my way into the living room, and I saw Asuna standing in the middle of the room, with the person I suspected was the female assistant of Sugou´s. They were both kind of covered by the shadows of the night and I stepped a little closer as my eyes began getting used to the darkness in the room.

"Asuna, are you ok?" I asked as I stepped up to her and looked at her with a worried expression.

When I didn´t get a response and Asuna merely pointed over at the other person in the room, I followed her finger and concentrated my vision on the person´s face. When my vision got more used to the dark lighting of the room, I could see the person´s face more clearly. It turned out it was Ichido, back from SAO. It was Sachi´s little sister.

"I-Ichido?!" I asked, shocked and at a loss for words.

She snickered a bit and nodded as she chuckled and produced a small hand gun from her pocket.

"That´s right you bastard" She hissed as she pointed the gun straight at me "Time to get my revenge for what you took from me!"

"Ichido, wait" I begged silently, holding up my hands in a protective way "Let´s just talk about this ok?"

"NO! I´m done talking!" She yelled, on the verge of tears "You took my big sister from me! It´s your fault they were all killed!"

"Ichido, just wait a second," I pleaded as I looked at her "I didn´t mean for that to happen! I swear I never wished for them to get killed!"

"I don´t care!" She yelled, unable to hold back her tears "What´s important is that you´re the reason that the one person I could rely on, is gone!"

"Ichido…" I mumbled softly as I watched her with a sad expression "You were not the only one who lost someone that day you know.."

"Huh?" She mumbled as she looked at me with a confused expression "S-Shut up! I don´t want to hear any of it!"

"Come on, just listen for a sec," I mumbled as I stepped forward slowly "I never meant for them to die. When I lost my guild that day, I felt like some part of me died as well. I was ready to commit suicide, just to get to apologize to Sachi for what happened…"

I could feel how the tears pressed in my eyes, but I managed to hold them back as I looked over at Ichido.

"But… She was the one saving me" I mumbled silently "If she hadn´t sent me that recorded message on Christmas eve, I might not have been here today… She told me that even if she died, she didn´t regret anything. She was happy."

"Shut up!" Ichido yelled, stomping in the ground "Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!"

I didn´t shut up though. I felt how my emotions got the better of me and pushed me to talk even more.

"Sachi was happy for the time she had had with me and the guild. She and her friends had shown me what it meant to be truly happy again. Even if we would spent all eternity in SAO, I felt like I was willing to do that as long as I was with those guys"

"The next who talks gets a bullet in the forehead!" Ichido screamed as she pointed at me threateningly.

"I regret what happened every single day" I mumble as I stepped up close to her "But that doesn´t mean that their sacrifices were in vein"

I slowly but surely grabbed hold of the gun, looking into Ichido´s eyes.

"You still have a chance." I mumbled "If you give up now, and promise that you´ll give up on your revenge plot, I will not turn you in"

"B-But…" She mumbled, staring back into my own eyes.

She looked down at her gun for a moment, and then slowly let go of it, looking downwards in defeat.

"Your parents are upstairs Asuna" she mumbled sadly "Go get them. I haven´t hurt them"

"alright" Asuna responded with a nod before dashing upstairs.

"Guess I would better disappear then" She mumbled silently, pulling the hood on her shirt back onto her head.

"Why´s that?" I mumbled "I mean, we can still be friends. Technically you didn´t hurt any of us, you were just confused"

"Yeah I guess so… And Asuna´s parents didn´t really see my face" She mumbled silently "Alright, I´ll stay in town at least. I owe you one Kazuto… Thanks for giving me another chance"

"You bet" I said with a smile as I pulled the magazine out of the gun and handed it to her "Keep the gun around, in case Sugou would appear again. We might never know with that guy, and since you´ve more or less changed sides, he might target you if he ever escapes prison again"

"That sounds secure" She said with a sigh and a soft chuckle "I´m really sorry for everything I did to you and Asuna, Kazuto… Thanks for the second chance, I really appreciate it"

"it´s ok" I said with a smile as I patted her on her head "I know what it´s like when anger takes over, trust me"

"Anyway, I should probably be getting home" She said with a soft smile "My grandmother is probably worried about me"

"Good idea" I said with a smile "Do you want me and Asuna to follow you home?"

"No it´s ok really" She said with a nod "I´m only living a couple of blocks from here. I should be fine"

"Alright" I said with a smile as I reached for my phone in my pocket "Here´s my number if anything should ever happen"

"Alright" She said as she grabbed for her own phone "And here´s mine. Think I´ll start taking a self defence class, if ever needed"

"Good idea" I said with a smile "Get rid of those clothes too, now that we´re at it. Asuna´s parents will surely give the police a description of you"

"But it´s one of my favorite shirts…" She mumbled with a pout.

"You do this kind of stuff in your favorite clothes?" I said with a raised eyebrow "I always knew you were weird, but wow…"

"Shut up!" She said as she playfully punched my arm "Anyway, I better get going. Thanks… For everything"

"No problem" I said with a smile "Keep in touch will you?"

"Definitely"

She smiled softly at me and sighed as she turned away from me, and began walking out the door. But right as I was about to turn to the stairs leading up on the second floor, to check on Asuna on the others, I suddenly saw Ichido dash back to me. I blushed dark red and almost gasped from surprise as she planted a small peck on my cheek.

"Asuna is lucky" She said with a smile as she giggled and ran back out the door.

I stood and stared after her as I rubbed my cheek, a dark red blush forcing it´s way along my cheeks.

"W-Well that was definitely unexpected" I mumbled silently and dared a smile on my lips.

I chuckled slightly and tried to force the blush away from my cheeks as I stepped upstairs, walking into the master bedroom where I could hear Asuna and her parents silently.

"I´m personally going to set the entire Japanese police force into finding that psycho!" I heard Asuna´s mother whisper hysterically.

I sighed softly as I stepped inside and looked at the group of four people, consisting of Asuna, her brother, and her parents, huddled together on the bed, holding on to each other as if it was the last time they were going to see each other.

"Don´t bother searching for any of them" I said with a serious expression "That person before got away, and Sugou is currently being held up at my place by my friend. None of them is going to be a threat anymore"

"How can you be so sure Kirigaya-kun?" Asuna´s mother asked silently.

"Call it a gut feeling" I said with a little smile "Is everyone ok in here?"

"Yes, we´re fine" Shouzou mumbled "None of us are hurt at least"

"Good" I said with a smile as I looked over at Asuna´s brother "How about you? Not hurt are you?"

"Nope, i´m fine" he said with an appreciative nod "You know, I just… Want to thank you, for protecting my sister. I wasn´t strong enough to do so"

"It´s ok" I said with a smile as I clapped him on the shoulder "You were caught by surprise. And she´s my family too. I need to protect the ones I love"

"Yeah you´re right" he mumbled as he sighed "I still find it quite embarrassing that I´m not even able to protect my own family"

"Oh please Kouichirou" Ms. Yuuki said with a stern look "Even if you hadn´t been caught by surprise I wouldn´t have let you fight"

"Huh!? Why not mom?" He asked in a surprised tone.

"Two reasons" Ms. Yuuki mumbled in a matter-of-fact tone "One, a parent´s job is to protect his or her family, not the opposite way. Second, you have next to none experience with combat"

"T-That´s true, but…" He mumbled with a pout "I can´t seem to recall you ever having any sort of self defense classes either"

"While that may be true," Ms. Yuuki mumbled as she crossed her arms over her chest "It´s still me and your father´s job to protect you, not the other way around"

"I guess there´s no arguing with you!" Kouichirou mumbled as he looked back at me "The point is that I thanked Kazuto here for helping us out. If he hadn´t we might have ended up dead"

"Hey!" Asuna yelled as she puffed out her cheeks in an adorable matter "I was here too you know!"

"Of course, I know that" Her other brother responded her with a smile "But from what I could hear from downstairs, apparently Kazuto has a deeper emotional background with this person. Isn´t that right Kazuto?"

Oh damn. Kouichirou knew that I knew who their captivator was. Asuna´s parents would without doubt ask who she was now. And if they did I would have no choice but to tell them.

"Y-Yeah… I know the person" I mumbled as I looked down regretfully "We have… Let´s just say, troubled pasts with each other"

"Oh, is that so?" Mr. Yuuki mumbled as he suddenly joined the conversation "Would you care to tell us who he or she is?"

"I-I´m sorry sir but… I can´t" I mumbled silently "She is a person who means a lot to me and uhmm… I gave her a second chance. I mean, she technically didn´t hurt anybody right? So, she hasn´t really done anything wrong!"

"Hasn´t hurt anybody?!" Ms. Yuuki yelled in disbelief "My good boy, she tortured you along with Sugou right in front of our eyes!"  
"I know, I know" I mumbled softly "And I know that she hurt me badly.. But I´m still willing to give her that second chance!"

"W-Why the hell would you-"

Ms. Yuuki was suddenly interrupted by her husband as he put a hand on her shoulder, and shook her head.

"Don´t honey" He mumbled as he looked at her with an almost pleading expression.

"W-Why not!?"

"I trust Kazuto" He said with a determined expression "And I trust the choices he makes. Whatever you decide to do, my boy, I will support your decision"

"T-Thank you very much sir" I mumbled as I bowed politely "Let´s just hope it was the right choice I took!"

"I have no doubt it was" He said with a warm smile and a nod "Again, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We owe you one"

"That´s quite alright sir" I said with a smile "I don´t believe in favors. You do good deeds to help others, not to push them into a corner with favors later on"

I smiled softly and looked straight over at Asuna.

"And besides" I said with a little smile as I sat down beside her "You guys are my family now. You are someone important to me. You have shown me so much kindness and support from the very beginning. I don´t want that support and kindness to go to waist"

I could see how Asuna´s cheeks burned up in a blush but none the less she smiled and nuzzled closer to me.

"Aww you" She mumbled silently as she kissed my cheek "Such a romantic"

"Eww you too, get a room!" her older brother said with a chuckle.

Asuna´s blush intensified as she glared at her older brother.

"You´re one to talk Kouichirou!" She yelled "I have seen how much you like to make out with your girlfriend!"

"H-Hey!" He yelled in retort "I thought we were supposed to keep that as a secret!"

"That was before you decided to tease me!" Asuna said with a huff as she dug her face into my chest form embarrassment.

"Oh my god… You´re impossible to argue with!" Her older brother mumbled in frustration.

"Trust me, I know that" I said with a chuckle.

"HEY!" Asuna yelled as she punched my arm lightly "Who´s side are you on?"

"I´m not on anyone´s side!" I said as I rubbed my arm "I´m passive in this situation!"

"Grr, you´re so annoying!"

I chuckled softly and kissed her forehead softly.

"Sorry hun" I mumbled as I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and squeezed her body a little "Better?"

"Maybe…" She mumbled as she pouted.

"Anyway," Mr. Yuuki mumbled as he cleared his throat "What about Sugou? What happened to him?"

"You don´t have to worry about that" I said with a smile "Unless he somehow overpowered Klein, he should be sitting on the backseat of a police car right now"

Right as I said that, my phone rang.

"huh?" I mumled and looked down at my pocket in surprise "Oh, sorry guys, but I have to take this"

I walked off a bit from the others and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" I mumbled as I stood in the hallway.

"Dude, I´m so sorry…" It was Klein´s voice in the other end.

"Huh? Sorry?" I mumbled, not able to understand "Sorry about what?"

"I don´t know how he did it, but…"

The tone in his voice sent a chill down my spine.

"Klein, what happened!?"

"There was this sound outside.. A loud bark of some kind" He mumbled "I turned my head for two seconds because I was startled, and…"

"What is it Klein?"

"Right when I turned my head, Sugou had grabbed a bottle of some kind" He said as he grunted of pain "He bashed me down with it and took off somewhere. I tried following him, but he´s gone"

My whole world froze as I heard those words. Here I thought we had finally caught the bastard, but he is still in the free world, free to do whatever he wanted to me and the people I held dear.

"We need to find him Klein!" I yelled loudly "This has both your and everyone else´s life on the line!"

"I know, I know" He mumbled as he grunted again "Dude, I´m really sorry. I should have payed closer attention to him"

"It´s ok Klein" I mumbled with a sigh "We´ll find him, I promise you"

"Ok… I-I have to go now. The paramedics are treating me and your mother and sister"

"Ok, call me if you get better ok? I´m coming by right away"

"Ok, see you soon…"

When the phone call ended and I heard the infamous three beeps, I sighed and closed my phone, looking down at the floor with an infuriated growl.

"Damn you Sugou…" I mumbled regretfully "I shouldn´t have left Klein all alone with him"

I sighed softly as I put my phone back in my pocket and walked back into the master bedroom, back to the others. I frowned and felt how I was about to cry from frustration and fear. He was still out there, I had no idea where he was, and the worst thing of all, is that he could strike at any moment. There was no time to waist. We had to find him, before he had any kind of chance at striking.

"Kazuto?" Asuna mumbled silently as she saw me "Is anything wrong?"

I looked over at her with a sigh. I knew the news would hit her hard, I just didn´t know how she would take it.

"Sugou is missing…" I mumbled silently "He surprised Klein and escaped somehow"

"W-WHAT!?" Everyone in the room yelled in surprise.

Suddenly my phone buzzed again, this time from receiving a text.

"Oh sorry, let me just check my phone" I mumbled silently as I opened my phone again.

It was from an unknown number:

"_Hey Kazuto. Surprise, surprise, your little friend wasn´t enough to keep me down. Cause I am free, free as a bird. Good luck finding me. And just know, my good friend, I will find you, and every little friend you might have in town. And I promise you, I will kill every single one of them in cold blood. And you and your precious little girlfriend is not safe either. Enjoy your last living hours, cause you and all you hold dear, is going straight to hell"_

**A/N**

**Hey guys! Hope you liked the chapter!**

**So, I have some exciting news for you guys! **

**In about four months prior to this, I have been writing for exactly a year! To celebrate, I have decided to do a one shot of an anime of your choice!**

**Should it be of SAO, Corpse Party or something entirely different? Please tell me in the review section!**

**You guys can also choose which genre it should be, like romantic/comedy, or horror/despair!**

**And now to something completely different.**

**All my thoughts goes to CorpsePartyLover 3850, since he is going through some tough times right now.**

**And even though I don´t know any details about it, I still hope he gets better soon.**

**I´m thinking about you buddy, and I hope you keep your head held high.**

**Other than this there is not much to talk about.**

**See you next week.**


	19. Chapter 19 - The Calm Before The Storm

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 19 – The Calm Before The Storm_

~About an hour later~

I trudged nervously around the living room, biting nervously at my fingernails. It was and old, and more importantly, a bad habit, I had had ever since I was five. Whenever I was scared, or really, really nervous, I would always find myself biting nervously at my fingers. And today, of course, was not an exception.

I couldn´t keep my breathing in check and I could feel how my heart beat faster and harder the more I panicked. Trying to calm myself down I walked outside and leaned against a wall, taking a couple of deep breaths, to try and calm myself down. Of course it didn´t work, and it only managed to frustrate and panic me even more.

I had called everyone and had made them arrive at Asuna´s house. They were all sitting inside, talking about where to look for Sugou, and what to do next. I just stood out here like an idiot, writhing my brain for any kinds of places Sugou could be hiding. I had even contacted Ichido to see if she had any kind of clue, but she was just as blank as me.

I growled softly from frustration and sighed a little as I stared up at the sky. A cold mid-autumn wind running over the front yard, making me shiver slightly. I sighed softly as I stared up at the sky, the stars slowly beginning to fade as a beautiful mix of orange, purple, and pink. My worries and frustrations faded a bit as I looked up at the beautiful sight.

"And I thought the view from my house was beautiful" I said with a soft smile "I have no reason to panic right now. I contacted the police, and we´re under their protection. As long as we look out for each other, he can´t hurt us…"

I sighed softly as I looked down at the big garden in front of Asuna´s house, every flower neatly placed in row, cared for to the best of Asuna´s parents abilities. At least that´s what I thought, since Asuna had never shown any interest in gardening.

"I´m sure her mother has had a big role in doing this garden," I said with a chuckle "Seeing how strictly everything has been put in place"

I sighed softly and sat down beside a particular flowerbed, a small sea of brightly blue, yellow and purple flowers swaying gently in the wind. In the middle, was a single lonely rose, towering above the rest of the of them. The other flowers was so small in comparison, that they couldn´t even reach the lowest thorn of the rose.

"I wonder why they would plant them like that…" I mumbled silently as I studied the flowers more closely "Why put a rose in the middle of a sea of normal flowers?"

"Because it has a symbolic meaning silly"

Suddenly Asuna was standing behind me, draping her shoulders with a blanket as she put a gentle hand on my shoulder. As she suddenly talked I jumped slightly in place, and I looked up at her with a startled expression.

"Geez, you scared me!" I mumbled as I shook my head slightly, trying to get my breathing back into control.

Asuna giggled a bit and sat down beside me, smiling softly as she took a firm hold of my hand, and leaned her head on my shoulder.

"What´s the meaning of the rose?" I asked as I looked back at her.

"Well, my mom told me," She said with a small blush "That she always thought I was more beautiful than the rest of my classmates when I was younger… But that I always had a sharp tongue. So she said that the rose represented me, in the middle of a sea of other children, blooming and shining more than the rest"

"She´s definitely on point with that" I said with a smirk as I saw Asuna´s blush darken.

"What are you doing out here so late anyway?" She asked silently "It´s too cold out here. You´ll get sick"

"Now you mention it, I am kind of cold" I mumble as I nuzzled closer to her "Sorry, I´m just thinking"

"About what dearest?" She said with a small smile.

"Everything that has happened so far…" I mumbled silently as I looked up at sunrise "About everything we´ve been through… SAO, ALO, and now Sugou again… I didn´t know my life would change so drastically…"

"What do you mean Kazuto?" Asuna asked silently as she dug her face into the drape of my neck.

"I mean.. Before SAO, I was nobody…" I mumbled silently as I sighed "No friends, never outside, no reason to exist more or less…"

"T-That´s not true Kazuto," Asuna mumbled with a sad expression "Everyone has a reason to exist"

"Well, even so," I mumbled with a sigh "I still had nothing to live for.. Sure, I had my family, but we were on bad terms… I barely talked to them after all…"

Asuna looked up at me with a concerned expression as she listened to what I was saying.

"I had no friends, almost no family… I was nobody" I mumbled silently "But then came SAO, and along with it, you. My life took a complete 180. I went from lonesome gamer, to hero. I met you, everything changed. I had one friend after the other… But along with those friends, was enemies"

Asuna nodded silently and sighed softly as she looked up at the sky.

"Yeah, I know" She mumbled silently as she sighed "Not only Heathcliff or Sugou, but The Laughing Coffin, Titans Hand and Kuradeel has been out to hurt us"

"Yeah," I mumbled as I nuzzled her cheek with a finger "Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I had decided to never put that Nervegear on that day"

Asuna jolted her head up and looked like she was about to object.

"H-Hey, just stop for a second and let me finish" I mumble as I coughed a little "My life would have been much simpler, without being in danger, but…"

"But?" Asuna mumbled as she looked at me.

"I feel like it all was still worth it" I mumble with a smile as I looked at Asuna "All this pain, agony, fear and stress is all worth it. Because you and the others are what I have gained for it. You guys are the best that´s ever happened to me.. SAO gave me a girlfriend, a daughter, friends… If I could go back and change anything, it would only to change that I got so many people killed.."

"Aww Kazuto.." Asuna smiled and kissed my cheek.

"But now…" I mumbled as my smile faded a little "All of what I have fought for.. Everything I have worked so hard and so long to preserve… Someone is threatening to take it all away from me… And leave me with only painful memories…"

"Then let´s work together," Asuna mumbled as she squeezed my hand "To protect each other, and the people we hold dear, ok? No more going solo"

"I promise Asuna" I said softly as I squeezed back on her hand "We´re the black swordsman and the lightning flash… Together, nothing should be able to stop us.."

"That´s right!" Asuna said with a cheerful smile and a giggle as she kissed my cheek "Come on, let´s go inside. I´ll make you a mug of cocoa"

"With marshmallows?" I said with an excited smile.

"Just like you like them hun" She answered with a smile as we walked back up to her house, leaving her garden behind.

When we arrived inside I really did feel how cold it had been outside. Even with the thick jacket I had been wearing, I could really feel how much hotter it was inside. I sighed happily of satisfaction as I felt my goosebumps disappear, and I collapsed into a nearby comfy chair in the living room, realizing how tired I was.

Klein and Liz was in the middle of a heated conversation about how they would punish Sugou and for how long, when I entered the room.

"Oh! Hey Kazu-kun!" Liz said with a smile as she noticed me enter the room "We were just discussing something!"

"Yeah, it sounded really interesting I admit" I mumbled with a smile, actually wanting to hurt Sugou really bad myself.

"Hey, that´s the first smile I've seen from you all day" Klein said with a smile "Good to see you´re cheering up!"

I could tell by the tone of his voice and his half-hearted attempt at a smile, that something was bothering him. I knew he felt guilty about letting Sugou go, and I wanted to talk to him about it.

"Klein, you don´t have to feel guilty about Sugou´s escape" I mumbled as I stepped up to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"W-What!?" He mumbled surprised "I-I-I don´t know what you´re talking about!"

"Yeah you do" I mumbled silently "And you don´t have to be sorry. He surprised you, there´s no shame at that"

"T-Thanks Kazuto" He mumbled with a troubled smile "Though it´s still my fault he is threatening us all…"

"No it´s not" I mumbled as I clapped his shoulder "I should have made sure the police were there before I left. I know how sneaky that snake is"

"I-If you say so Kazuto" He said with a smile, this time being true "Thanks"

"No problem bud" I said with a smirk "Just make sure to beat Sugou up when we find him"

"That´s a promise I can keep!" He said as he hit his fist into the palm of his other hand "I have a thing or two to do to that creep!"

"Hold that thought" I said with a smirk as I did the same as him "Let´s beat him up real good, alright?"

"Sounds like a plan!" he said with a smirk.

I smiled and nodded a bit before walking into the kitchen, where Asuna, her mother and Scilica was in full swing with making cocoa for everyone.

"Hey Asuna!" Liz said with a smirk "make my marshmallows on the double!"

"Alright, just hold on for a moment!" Asuna yelled back as she giggled a bit, running around the kitchen like a madman.

I was surprised how high everyone´s spirits was, even though we had this pressing situation on us. I found it slightly weird, but I was happy that everyone was able to keep up their mood, even when if something might happen anytime.

"Why do I feel like a maid all of a sudden?" Kyouko, Asuna´s mother, asked with a giggle as she put some coffee mugs on a tray.

"Because our house has become a café" Asuna said with a laugh as she filled the mugs with the newly made cocoa.

"Alright guys, let me help you" I said with a smile as I took the tray and began serving my friends.

"Thanks Kazuto" Asuna said with a smile as she kissed my cheek, squeezed my shoulder, and headed for the living room.

"Phew, you guys are demanding, seriously" Asuna said with a laugh.

Liz pouted a bit and playfully hit her best friend on the shoulder.

"Yeah, and you love it!" Liz said with a laugh.

I chuckled softly as I handed the three last mugs to Asuna´s family, and they all three nodded in appreciation, sipping every now and again from the hot drink.

"Ahhh that´s exactly what I needed" Scilica said with a bright smile "It´s been a while since I´ve had a good cup of hot cocoa"

"Yeah, me too" Klein mumbled as he sipped from his mug.

"So, how are you doing at work Klein?" I asked as I took a sip of my own mug.

"Pretty good actually" Klein said with excitement in his voice "Besides helping you with rebuilding SAO, I´m helping some of the top bosses of my company to come up with new ideas for games"

"Oh really?" Scilica exclaimed excitedly. "Have you been part of any recent games?"

"Well," Klein said with a smile "I have been coming up with some design ideas for some weapons in this new FPS game, called Gun Game Online"

"Oh, I´ve actually heard about that game!" liz said with a smile "It´s a game where you compete in shooting tournaments, and more or less just try to survive in the wasteland, right?"

"That´s right" Klein said with a nod "It´s supposed to be pretty rough"

It felt nice how we were talking like this, just like we always did. I kind of felt like it was everyone´s way to stay away from the topic at hand, and to be honest, I was happy that it was going on like this. Honestly I just wanted to forget everything about stress, fear and pain, and just wanted to relax with my family and friends for once.

Now that everyone was gathered at Asuna´s house, and that house was more than big enough to hold everyone, plus the fact that we we´re under police protection, made us feeling slightly more safe and secure. This made us forget everything about Sugou for a while, and just have a bit of fun, talking and hanging out like we used to.

I smiled softly over at Scilica and chuckled softly.

"I´m pretty sure Scilica would hate that game" I say with a laugh, resulting in Scilica´s pouting.

"Hey! What´s that supposed to mean?"

"Aww don´t be mad Scilica!" Liz said with a teaseful undertone "Kazuto is just saying you´re way too cute and cuddly to participate in war!"

"Hey, you calling me a princess!?" Scilica yelled as she stomped her foot "I can take care of myself you know!"

"Your pet in SAO was literally an adorable feathered dragon, barely able to do damage!" Liz laughed loudly, holding her stomach.

"T-That´s not…." Scilica paused for a bit. She wasn´t able to come up with any backfire "Hmph, at least I can take care of myself in SAO"

"Is that so?" I asked with a smirk "I think I can recall a certain time on floor 47 where you could barely walk down a brick road without being attacked by plant monsters!"

"Hey! I thought we were supposed to keep that to ourselves Kirito!" Scilica burst with a blush and a pout.

I couldn´t help but laugh a little and it seemed the laughter was contagious. The laughter quickly spread to all my friends, and even Scilica couldn´t help but giggle a little at the happy atmosphere. At the coffee table sat Asuna´s parents, her brother, and my aunt, with tired but happy smiles, and looked over at the happy scene.

Suguha walked out of the kitchen as she finished cleaning the kitchen table and sighed softly as she sat down beside Scilica on the couch.

"Geez, what a mess" She mumbled silently as she wiped some sweat from her forehead "At least we can have fun while we mess up the kitchen, huh mom?"

She asked this as she looked over at her mother with just as tired a smile as her mothers. My aunt smiled back and nodded.

"Well, I guess it´s worth it," She said with a smile "Seeing how happy it makes everyone, I mean"

"Yeah, I guess that´s rewarding enough" Suguha said with a giggle "A little payment would be nice though"

"What do you think your chores are there for?" My aunt giggled. Another wave of laughter rippled through the room.

It was beginning to become early morning. Time had began taking it´s toll on everyone, and it was seeable. Everyone was yawning or seeming tired in some way. I guess Asuna and her parent´s cocoa has that effect on people, and even I, who had been so worried all night, was even beginning to feel how exhausting it had been to stay up all night.

Funny, since you would think a gamer was used to being up late.

I sighed softly and rubbed my eyes silently as I laid out the last futon madress, and smiled a little as the girls, Liz, Scilica and Asuna crammed inside our bathroom to change and brush their teeth on the ground floor. Me, Agil and Klein, stood on the second floor, and brushed our own teeth.

"I can´t believe…" I mumbled silently "How good our lives are right now…"

"That´s a wonder coming from you Kazuto" Agil said with a chuckle "Seeing how you´re being death threatened"

"Yeah, I´m surprised you´re looking so positively on things" Klein mumbled as he spit out the remaining toothpaste "How are you doing with your nightmares?"

"It´s gotten a little worse since Sugou returns, but" I mumbled as I spit out my toothpaste as well "I have a feeling as soon as I have handed Sugou´s ass to him, they´re going to disappear again"

"Yeah, I´d guess" Klein said with a chuckle "See you guys tomorrow"

He smiled softly as he passed Asuna on the way out.

"Kazuto are you coming?"

She smiled at me silently as she huddled a duvet to her chest, her sleepy but happy smile inviting me out even more than her words.

"I´m coming, just need to finish up" I said as I put my toothbrush away.

"You better go with your girlfriend Kazuto" Agil said with a smile "I´m just going to finish up"

I nodded at him silently and smiled.

"Alright. Good night Agil" I said with a smile.

"Goodnight guys"

I yawned softly as I walked down the hall with my girlfriend. I blushed a little as I realized she led me to her room, but shook it off since I had already slept in the same room as her before, back in the Himalayas. She smiled back at me as she played with my fingers silently, pulling me by the hand into her room.

She smirked a bit and wiggled her finger in a motion for me to turn around. I realized that she was about to change, and immediately turned around, blushing dark red as I let her get some privacy. I heard some shuffling from the bed and the bedcovers, and a sugarsweet voice.

"It´s ok to turn around by now you know"

I gulped a little and turned around. Asuna was laying on the bed, under the bedcovers. She watched me silently, but smirked.

"What are you waiting for?" She said softly "Get changed already"

"This reminds me a lot about that time in SAO" I mumbled silently "I almost expect to see a menu pop up in front of me"

Asuna giggled a bit and nodded silently as I began pulling my shirt over my head, along with pulling my jeans off, leaving me in underwear and a t-shirt. I blushed dark red as I was not used to this kind of thing, but it still excited me.

I smiled softly as I climbed into bed beside Asuna, and she smiled softly as she looked into my eyes.

"You´re so cute when you´re blushing you know" She mumbled softly as she nuzzled her head into my neck.

I blushed a little at our closeness but smiled softly and kissed her cheek, feeling my own cheeks burn.

"You´re one to talk" I mumbled silently as I took a couple of deep breaths "Today was stressful"

"Yeah, but I know we´ll pull through" Asuna mumbled silently "As long as we have each other, our friends, and our family, nothing can stop us"

"Damn straight" I said with a smile.

I pulled her in and kissed her lips softly, letting our presences melt together for a moment before pulling away slightly and resting my head on my pillow, still nuzzled close up to my significant other.

"Good night Asuna" I mumbled silently.

"Good night Kazuto" She whispered back.

And with this, we both slowly, but surely, drifted into slumber.

**A/N**

**What is up dear readers!? Hope you enjoyed this fluffy, happy, ball of mess! **

**I have some news for you guys.**

**Now that Halloween is coming up, I am going to upload a special Halloween themed chapter for both Corpse Party – Memory Loss and Blood Spill, and Sword Art Online – After The Incident.**

**Hope you like what I´m enjoying here, since it´s the first time I´m doing this kind of stuff.**

**Though know that the theme does not affect the genre. Both chapters are just going to be a break from the original timeline of the stories, and be two big balls of fluffy, romantic and silly mess. So look forward to it!**

**Anyway, hope you guys liked the chapter, and see you next week, for the Super Awesome Halloween Special! It´s going to be Super Awesome :P**


	20. Chapter 20 - A christmas Special

Sword Art Online

After The Incident

~Chapter 20 – Halloween Special~

I smiled softly and squeezed the hand of my significant other as we walked down the street together, the streetlights softly illuminating the pavement under our feet. I looked over at her and smiled slightly as I watched her look up at the shimmering night sky in wonder.

We had just been at the dicey café together with all our friends, for the first time in what felt like eternity. Ever since I was captured by Sugou, I had felt a certain amount of longing and excitement whenever I would meet up with the others, and today had been no exception.

And now, me and Asuna was walking back home, hand in hand, as the shimmering starlight above our heads left a peaceful atmosphere in our trail. We didn´t talk to each other. I didn´t feel like I had to say anything to her. Just her being here with me was plenty for me, and I wouldn´t have it any other way

I felt a certain feeling of happiness and luck rise in my chest whenever I would look at her. I was incredibly lucky to have such a wonderful woman in my life. I had what some people spend their entire life searching for, and for some reason, fate had chosen me to be one of the few, to be together with one of the most kindhearted and caring people on the planet.

I smiled softly as I watched her, her smile growing ever so much by the second. I could feel her childish excitement radiate off of her as she tried to follow a shooting star´s path with her eye. She excitedly pointed up at the shooting star, jumping slightly in her place in excitement.

"Look there Kazuto!" She said excitedly.

She pointed excitedly at the sky with a sweet smile, the same smile that constantly made my heart melt, and make my legs feel like jelly. The same smile that had made me fall for her back in SAO. The white silent shine of a bright full moon reflected off of her chestnut colored eyes, and made the pale white skin of her face shine slightly as she kept stretching her finger towards the shooting star she wanted me to put my attention upon.

I found it a little hard to pry my eyes off of her facial features, but finally I snapped out of my trance. I smiled and followed her finger up onto the night sky, only catching a glimpse of a shining white light speed across the sky, towards it´s next destination, wherever that is.

I smiled up at the sky and took a deep breath, the small amount of exhaustion I had felt earlier disappearing from my body along with my exhale.

"Yeah, it´s beautiful isn´t it?" I asked softly as I looked over at Asuna.

She had clasped her hands together and closed her eyes intensely, trying to concentrate as hard as she could on what I knew was her wish. When she began relaxing her body again she sighed softly and opened her eyes, looking at me with a small smile.

"What did you wish for?" I asked softly as I took her hand again, squeezing it slightly as I felt it relax in the palm of my own.

She smiled heartwarmingly at me and sighed softly as she looked back up at the sky, her hair softly flowing in a sudden cold wind soaring through the street.

"I wished," She mumbled as she softly gripped at her shirt with her free hand "That we can continue to live like this forever"

I smiled softly and kissed her rather cold cheek, which then immediately warmed up a bit in a pink blush.

"That´s sweet" I mumbled silently as I looked up at the sky "My turn"

I closed my eyes softly and sighed softly as I began concentrating on my own wish.

Living like this, with Asuna by my side, was a dream come true for me. It was something that I was looking forward to with open eyes, and something I would fight forever to ensure if I had to.

That´s why I responded like I did to Asuna´s question as I opened my eyes back up.

"So? What did you wish for?" Asuna asked softly as she squeezed my hand.

"That´s a secret" I said with a small snicker, resulting in Asuna pouting as she puffed out her cheeks in an adorable manner.

"That´s so unfair Kazuto" She mumbled "I told you my wish"

"Well, I´m not telling," I said with a chuckle "so you should just give up"

I looked back up at the cloudless dark-blue sky.

I´ve heard once that if you tell your shooting star wish to anyone at all, your wish will never come true. I normally don´t believe in such superstitions. Normally I never really believed in much, without trying to find a rational explanation to the problem first. But, this wish meant so much to me, that I was willing to believe that even a dumb wish like this would protect it. That it would help me protect the lifestyle I had acquired.

I smiled softly and ruffled Asuna´s hair out of place a little, just to push her a little bit.

"Come on, we have to get home!" I said with a chuckle, beginning to walk as Asuna began to fix her hair back in place again.

"What did I tell you about ruining my hair!?" She yelled after me as she sprinted after me, soon, once again by my side.¨

I smiled mischievously at her and chuckled softly as we began walking down the street again, Asuna soon stretching her arm out and taking my hand in hers.

~At Kazuto´s home~

I smiled and yawned a bit again as we reached the front door to my home.

"Finally home" I muttered silently as I began kicking off my shoes "I don´t think my feet can take any more"

"Yeah, but," Asuna mumbled as she smiled at me "We did dance quite a lot at the café. The invitation DID say it was a Halloween dancing party after all"

"Yeah, but," I mumbled silently as we stepped inside "I didn´t expect I would have to dance with every single one of my friends"

"Yeah, that´s true" Asuna said with a giggle "But look at the bright side. At least we got to be real close when we were dancing, darling"

She was whispering the last few words into my ear as she kissed my neck softly. Her actions and words sent an excited shiver down my spine, and I smiled softly as I felt her breath tickle my neck a little bit.

"Yeah, that was wonderful, I must admit" I said with a smirk as I turned around to look at her "Maybe it doesn´t have to end"

"Oh? I feel a suggestion coming my way!" Asuna said with a deep voiced chuckle as she made weird hand gestures, making her look like a fortuneteller.

I chuckled softly at her teasing behavior and decided to join in.

"Oh wow, your fortunetelling abilities are through the roof" I said in an exasperated tone "It´s not that late. Maybe we should just snuggle on the couch and watch a movie or two"

"That sounds… Interesting, at least" She said with a teaseful smile "Let me just get out of this stiff winter jacket"

"Alright" I said with a chuckle "Go get yourself comfortable. My mother should be asleep by now, and Suguha is still at the café, so we shouldn´t worry about being interrupted"

"Ok, but what are you going to do in the meantime?" Asuna asked, a tint of curiosity in her voice.

"I´m just going to go upstairs and get changed" I said with a smile as I began walking up the stairs "I might make us some popcorn when I come down too"

"Good to know" Asuna said with a giggle "Uhm, Kazuto?"

Her calling for me made me stop dead in my tracks and return to the living room.

"Yeah?" I asked softly.

"W-Well" She mumbled silently "These clothes… really smell after all that dancing and… Uhm, I don´t have any spare clothes…"

"Oh…" I mumbled in shy surprise, finally catching on to the situation "W-Well I could always lend you a shirt of mine"

"Y-Yeah, that sounds good" Asuna mumbled "But, would your clothes fit me? I mean, I already know you´re two or three sizes bigger than me from all our shopping dates"

"Well, only one way to find out" I said with a smile as I went upstairs, and began to change into my sleepwear.

I pulled on a black t-shirt and some grey loose pants, before pulling the covers off my bed and getting a spare blouse from my wardrobe. I walked back downstairs and smiled softly as I handed Asuna my thick warm blouse.

"Here, I´ll let you get some privacy" I said with a smile as I kissed her cheek and went to the kitchen to prepare the popcorn.

I smiled softly as I stood against the kitchen wall and watched the microwave´s timer go down, excitedly looking forward to the time I was about to share with my significant other.

When I got back in the living room with the bowl of popcorn, Asuna was sitting on the sofa, in my blouse and panties. My blouse was barely long enough to hide everything, and even still Asuna kept pulling down in it out of shy nervousness. I blushed a little and scratched my neck, feeling a distinct feeling of awkwardness falling over me like a fog.

"Y-You don´t have to hide anything you know" I mumbled, scared to sound like a pervert "I´ve seen you in your panties before"

"I-I know you pervert!" She exclaimed in a nervous tone "It just never gets easier. You know I´ve been nervous about… Stuff like that… Ever since before SAO"

Yeah, she was right. We had already discussed her nervousness. Sugou had been sure to harass Asuna, even before she had entered SAO. She had told me everything about what had happened, from when she found out she was promised to that snake, to how she constantly had to cope with his partly sexual and physical harassment.

"It´s ok Asuna" I mumbled as I sat down beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders "I know that what he did made you take a big blow to your confidence"

"Mmhmm" She mumbled silently as she rested her head against my shoulder.

"But, from my point of view," I mumbled silently, scared to death that she might take it the wrong way like she usually did "There´s nothing to feel discouraged about"

Asuna looked at me with a surprised and shy expression.

"Huh?" She asked in surprise.

"I mean, look at you," I said as I looked at her "You´re beautiful! Any guy in my age would kill to receive what I have, and girls would do anything to look like you do. In my eyes, there´s not a single flaw about you. You´re perfect, in your own special way. And I wouldn´t want you to change, or feel nervous about anything"

She looked up at me with an obvious blush.

K-Kazuto…" She mumbled in astonishment as she stared into my eyes.

"you´re perfect Asuna" I mumbled as I kissed her cheek "And it´s not only your outwards appearance that made me kiss you and fall for you, on that day with Kuradeel. What made me jump in front of you and save you was no longer a feeling of responsibility for your safety. It was a feeling of love. Your personality, your looks, it all ads up to the wonderful girl I once fell in love with, and still am in love with this very day"

I smiled softly as I wrapped my arms around her a bit tighter than before.

"So please," I whispered silently into her ear "Please don´t doubt yourself. You´re the best that ever happened to me. And I wouldn´t want to see you in doubt"

"Kazuto…" She mumbled again, her astonished expression replaced with a smile, and a few tears in the corners of her eyes "Thank you…"

She smiled and pulled me in for a passionate kiss, one that sparks run throughout my entire body, leaving my breath ragged. I smiled softly and felt my body heat up as I felt her tongue slowly creep into my mouth, and I felt myself get caught in the moment, fiercely fighting back with my own tongue.

I felt our two bodies fall and how she lied on top of me as we shared kiss after kiss, only wanting to feel our two presences get as close together as we could.

As we ran out of breath we parted from each other, we stared at each other for a moment.

"How about just snuggling on the couch, just you and me?" I mumbled silently as our noses softly brushed against one another as we put our foreheads together in rest.

"Yeah, that sounds lovely" Asuna mumbled under her deep breathing as she took both my hands in mine and kissed me again, before pulling me along to the couch.

I smiled and laid down silently, trying to nuzzle as far into the couch as possible to make room for Asuna. When I had laid down Asuna did the same, nuzzling her way up against me as I wrapped my arms around her waist in a loving and protective way. I leaned up a bit so my arm was supported by the couch´s armrest, resting my head in my arm so I could watch the television.

"So, there´s three movies in TV today" I said with a smile "Aaand, they´re all horror movies"

"W-What!?" Asuna exclaimed in surprise and nervousness.

I knew she didn´t cope well with horror and anything of the sort, but I just couldn´t resist her cute squeals and how her behavior changed. She turned into a child when she was frightened, a child that would squeal whenever she was scared, and she would cling to me in the cutest way. It was a complete 180 from her normally refined woman-like self, but I liked both sides of her for different reasons.

"Come on Asuna" I said with a chuckle "Just this once! I promise nothing bad will happen to you"

"You know I hate those kinds of movies" She mumbled as she clawed a bit at my shirt anxiously "Can´t we just watch Animal Planet or whatever?"

"And ruin the current mood?" I said with a teaseful laugh "Hell no! Come on, I´m right here for you!"

"Ok, ok, but just this one" She mumbled in defeat "And I will have to stay over tonight"

"That sounds like an offer I can´t resist" I said with a smirk as I switched channels.

I soon landed on the channel I had sought out, and smiled a bit as I reached for the popcorn bowl on the table, handing it to Asuna.

"Just make sure not to spill popcorn everywhere" I said with a chuckle "I know you jump in your seat when you´re frightened"

"Stop teasing me dummy" She mumbled through a pout as she took a handful of popcorn and gave me the bowl.

~About half an hour later~

I chuckled softly and smirked a bit as I looked at Asuna. She was desperately clawing at my shirt the longer and longer we got into the movie, suggesting she was getting more and more nervous. I smiled softly.

I had already seen this movie countless times with Suguha and Midori, so I knew when all the jumpscares would occur. It was only a matter of time before-~

"EEEEK!" Another squeal of fright emanated from Asuna, suggesting that the jumpscare had already happened.

I simply chuckled a little at her behavior, resulting in an adorable pout from her.

"How come you´re so calm?" She asked, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

"I´m just used to horror movies I guess" I said with a chuckle "I´m not as much of an easy fright as you are"

"You don´t even get surprised by the jumpscares!" She yelled as she beat my chest softly "You´ve watched this movie before haven´t you!?"

"Maybe a couple of times" I said as I erupted in a laughter I had tried to stifle the last 10 minutes.

"You massive, teasing jerk!" Asuna squeeled in childish anger as she grabbed my body and pinned down on the couch as she proceeded to beat my chest lightly and playfully.

"Aow, aow, aow!" I yelled with a laugh, finding this situation rather amusing "I´m sorry, I´m sorry!"

"No you´re not!" She yelled, now smiling and laughing with me "You´re laughing and having an amazing time you jerk!"

"I swear I really am sorry!" I yelled with a delighted chuckle.

We rolled around on the couch, trying to overwhelm each other and take control over the other, playing like had we been young siblings. I laughed loudly as we suddenly rolled to the side and ended up on the floor beside the coffee table, but just kept playing with each other in a playful and romantic manner.

I laughed a bit as I finally managed to get Asuna away from me with a roll, pinning her down on the floor and grabbing both of her arms with my hands and pinning them above her head, using the rest of my body to render her immobile.

"Do you give in?" I said with a baited breath, chuckling softly as I stared down at her.

"Maybe," she said with a smirk "But only if you let go of my arms"

"Fair enough I guess" I mumbled with a smile, sighing softly and trying to catch my breath as I let go of her arms and got off of her.

She smiled softly and leaned upwards, softly kissing my lips in a passionate and romantic moment. I smiled a little and returned her kiss, not with hungry lust, but with slow, gentle passion. We had no need to be aggressive this time. We didn´t have to communicate through our aggressiveness. We had already told each other everything we wanted to say through our playful intimacy.

I smiled and sat there with her for a moment, with the perfect way to end a perfect evening.

**A/N**

**Hey there guys! Hope you liked this Halloween special!**

**I know that it didn´t have much to do with Halloween, but meh, what will you do ;)**

**Again, hope you liked this chapter, and see you next time! Peace out!**


	21. Chapter 21 - Another Game, Another Fear

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 21 – Another Game, Another Fear_

~Kazuto´s POV~

I sighed softly and looked down at my phone screen. I had just received a text, a text from Kikouka. Kikouka was the head advisor of the Sword Art Online Victim Rescue Unit. They had been some of the people that was responsible of taking every unconscious SAO player back at the first day, and placing them at whatever hospital was available.

They had taken care of the players as best they could, providing food, water and money for the well care of the unconscious victims. When the players got out of the game, each player was teamed up with a psychological counselor from the company, to be checked up mentally and physically.

My mental advisor had been Kikouka, the head of the organization. I had been quite surprised that one of the big men would be assigned to me, but he had brushed it off as me saving everyone and clearing SAO being the reason.

Now he had sent me another text. We had kept in touch ever since I woke up from ALO, and he had thoroughly taken care of my mental health. He had been sure to text me, ask if I was ok, what I was doing, and etc. It was also one of those texts I thought I would receive, but, sadly, that was not the case.

"_Come to my office, quick. I have important news"_

One line of text. Short and straight to the point. It´s a wonder that a few digital bits would be able to make a person so nervous. I gulped silently and felt a drop of sweat roll down my face as I stared down at the text.

My first thought was that he, or someone from the police had somehow found Sugou. I both hoped and feared that, that was the case. Partly I hoped, since it would finally bring an end to that bastard´s plans. But I also feared it, since it meant I would have to confront the same person that had tortured me to near death several times, just to revive me and torture me all over again.

Asuna noticed my nervous behavior and she looked at me with a worried expression.

"Kazuto?" She asked silently as she put down the tray of cookies she had just brought in "Is something wrong?"

I looked up at her hollowly, nodding silently as I looked back down at my phone.

"It´s Kikouka" I mumbled silently as I deleted the message with the press of a button "He want´s to meet up. Important news he says"

"Oh really?" Asuna asked, getting worried as well "What do you think it´s about?"

"I don´t know" I mumbled a bit as I stood up and headed for the front entrance "But it might have something to do with that parasite, so I have to go"

Ever since he had captured me last time I had refused to talk about him in other names than The Parasite. He was not even that. Nothing so insane could be a living being.

"yeah, I know" Asuna mumbled with a nod "Let me come with you Kazuto"

"It would be best for you to stay here though" I said with a smile as I looked back at Asuna "I mean, it might just have something to do with me. Or a regular check up. I`ll tell you all about it when I get home"

"B-But…" Asuna mumbled as she walked me to the front door "What if it´s something huge?"

"Then I will tell you all about it when I come home" I said as I kissed her forehead softly "Come on Asuna. Yui needs a playmate anyway"

"Yeah…" She mumbled silently as she watched me leave her house "Please, be careful Kazuto"

"Will do hun" I said as I began walking down the street, towards the train station.

~About half an hour later~

I stared up at the tall skyscraper building belonging to Kikouka´s company. I had a bad feeling about it. Not the building itself, but the important news, Kikouka apparently had for me. I couldn´t explain it, but a part of me felt like I shouldn´t go in there. Like I should just forget it all and head back home.

But that would be running away from my fears. And I would never run away again. Sugou was my responsibility, and mine alone. If these important news really was about him, then I had to go in and confront it.

So I took a deep breath, and made up my mind, slowly walking into the skyscraper building. The receptionist smiled softly and held up a hand, signaling for me to wait for her to end a phone call. When she put her phone down she smiled softly and shook my hand over her counter.

"Good to see you again Kirigaya-san" She said with a smile "Do you know the way to Kikouka-san´s office?"

"Yeah, I think so" I said with an appreciative smile and a respectful bow "I´ve been here so many times, I should have learned by now"

"Haha, yeah that´s true" The receptionist by the name of Sakura said "If you can´t though, be free to ask me"

"Thanks Sakura-san" I said with a smile and another bow, before I headed to the elevators.

~A few moments later~

I took another deep breath before grabbing the door handle to Kikouka´s office. I smiled politely to him as I saw him behind his desk, and he smiled brightly and gestured for me to take a seat.

"Ah, Kirigaya-kun" He said with a smile "Thanks for coming on such short notice. Please take a seat"

"Thank you Kikouka-san" I said with a nod as I bowed before sitting down.

He smiled a little and pulled a coffee pot out from under his desk, smiling as he held it up for me to see.

"Would you like a cup of coffee?" he asked politely.

"No thanks" I said with a polite smile "I don´t really like coffee. And not to be rude, but I would rather get straight to the point"

"Alright, I understand" He said with a smile as he poured himself a cup of coffee before putting the coffee pot away.

I looked around his office a bit before he spoke.

"You've heard about the new VRMMO game right?" He asked in a serious tone, his smile suddenly turning into a serious frown.

I nodded a bit as I frowned myself, knowing exactly what he was talking about since there hadn´t been all that many VR games out lately.

"You mean GGO right?" I asked as I leaned back in my chair "The MMO FPS game?"

"Correct" He mumbled as he stood up from his desk and walked over to the window.

"What does your big news have to do with that game?" I asked as I looked up at him.

"Everything my dear boy" He said with a frown "You see, about 2 months ago, the game, Gun Gale Online, was released. It was quite unexpected, since the news, and the world, had already heard the story about three hundred players, including you, being trapped inside ALO"

I nodded and frowned slightly from seriousness. I had heard it myself. The media and the world itself had brought serious critique upon the virtual reality genre of gaming. Several games had been closed down, and their companies shut down and collapsed as a result.

But some gaming industries had taken the chance and had stepped up to try again, GGO and some other VR games being created in the process.

"But, as you know, a new game has been born." Kikouka said with a smile "The game you know as GGO"

I nodded softly, not sure what to say. Kikouka took that as his que to continue.

"Well, you see my boy," Kikouka said as he sat down at his desk again "we think we might just have found Sugou"

I widened my eyes in astonishment and gasped a little from surprise as I stared at Kikouka. I couldn´t believe that they had actually found him. It seemed too good to be true.

"B-But…" I mumbled, still in a bit of an astonishment "How does the creation of GGO, and Sugou, connect to each other?"

"Well, you see," Kikouka mumbled as he took a sip of his coffee "a local police officer recognized Sugou on the street. But when he decided to hunt him down, Sugou had already realized that he was being followed"

Kikouka took another sip of his coffee, and continued his story.

"He retrieved to an apartment he had rented under false name, and plucked himself into the virtual network. He escaped into GGO, and left a note, saying that he had made sure that he would die if anyone pulled the Nervegear off his head."

"Then why not just kill the bastard?!" I said with a growl as I hammered my fist onto the table, much to Kikouka´s, and my own surprise "I mean, he deserves it! He almost killed me, and literally tortured me in front of Asuna and her family!"

"I know my boy, calm down." He mumbled as he looked at me with a serious expression "Because of Japanese authorities we are not allowed to simply let him die. The law says that no one can be judged before being put before a court. So no one else but the court can simply decide his fate. And he damn well knew this."

I growled softly from irritation as I clenched my fists.

"That unbelievable snake." I hissed through my teeth in anger "You want me to go in after him, don´t you?"

"That was the plan, yes." Kikouka mumbled with a bit of regret in his voice "I know you´ve been through a lot, but you´re the only one I can entrust with this important task"

"Why me!?" I yelled in anger, my rage getting blazed again "Why can´t people just leave me alone!? Why can´t I just live in peace with my family?!"

"Because there are still people out there who wish to hurt you AND your family." Kikouka said with a glare "As long as Sugou isn´t in prison, he still poses a threat to people around him. If we don´t put him out of this game for good, no one can feel secure."

"But why do I have to do this!?" I yelled in disbelief "Why not someone else entirely!? Someone I don´t even know!?"

"Because," Kikouka said calmly, only making me all the more angry "You know what he´s like and who you´re up against. No one else does. Sugou is unpredictable. And you´re one of the most skilled people I have ever seen. You and only you, can ever have a chance of putting him down. If I send any of my own men in, it would practically be suicide"

I growled softly of hopeless frustration, and looked up at Kikouka with a growl.

"I´ll have to think about this Kikouka." I mumbled with a shivering frown "I can´t decide just here and now"

"That´s understandable" Kikouka mumbled as he sipped of his coffee "But please, send a response before the next two days have passed. There´s a lot of planning to do because of this development"

~Back home~

I sat down in the sofa in Asuna´s home. I felt exhausted. I felt like any kind of happiness I had resided before that meeting had escaped me within seconds. Kikouka was asking an impossible demand, he knew that all too well. And yet he still tried. I understood why though. If I didn´t stop Sugou myself, I would put other people´s lives at danger.

And I would rather kill myself than do that.

"Kazuto?!" Asuna had immediately held me close in a hug as she saw my frustrated and sad self "Are you ok hun?"

"No, I'm not" I mumbled, on the brink of tears "Kikouka found Sugou. But he´s in GGO. Kikouka wants me to go after him"

"What!?" Asuna yelled in disbelief "Haven´t you been through enough!?"

"That´s what I told him" I mumbled as I looked at Asuna with hollow eyes "but if I don´t do this, I would put other people´s lives at risks"

"I don´t care about other people" Asuna yelled as she teared up "You´re my everything Kazuto! You can´t do this!"

"Asuna I have to!" I yelled as I wrapped my arms around her body "If I don´t do this… This nightmare will never stop"

"B-But… But…" Asuna mumbled as she lightly beat me on my chest "You promised… Not to worry us anymore Kazuto… You promised"

Asuna was crying now. I could feel her tears staining my clothes. I could feel myself shatter inside as I tried to comfort her. I had to break another promise. She was right. I really DID promise everyone not to worry them anymore. But, in order to protect them all, in order for me to keep them safe, I had to break that promise. It was either that or let them be in danger.

"A-At least… Let me go with you" Asuna said in a pleading manner as she looked at me with eyes shining of tears.

Her request took me a bit aback, but I pulled my wits together and furrowed my brow as I shook my head.

"No. I can´t let you do that" I said sternly "if I let you do that and something happened to you… I wouldn´t be able to forgive myself"

"No. I´m not accepting that" Asuna said with a growl as she raised her voice slightly "You´re always putting all this pressure on your own shoulders. You´re carrying the world by yourself! We´re supposed to be partners, lovers! We´re doing everything together! When we work together nothing can touch us, you know that!"

"B-But…"  
"No buts!" she said as she stood up sharply and dried her eyes "I´m going, and that´s final. Now it´s my turn to protect you! I refuse to just stand on the sidelines, and helplessly watch! I´m going to help this time!"

I looked up at her in astonished silence. Her speech had caught me off guard, taken me aback. I was surprised by the fact that she had raised her voice, which she normally never did. But it was true, we always helped each other in SAO. But in my will to protect her and the others, I had forgotten that she wanted to protect me too.

"I-I´m sorry Asuna" I mumbled silently as I gave up on persuing her to stay here "But I beed you to be ready for anything. No one knows what that snake could do"

"Understood" She mumbled with a nod as she sat down beside me again "Let me help you, ok?"

I nodded softly.

"Ok" I mumbled silently as I leaned against her and closed my eyes.

~The next day, at the hospital~

I sighed softly as I looked up at the white ceiling of my hospital room. Beside my own bed stood Asuna´s, with Asuna herself sitting on the bed egde, looking at the floor nervously.

Yesterday we had told our respective families, and our friends, what was going to happen. They had tried to talk us from it at first, but our decision was clear, and absolute. We were going to bring an end to this nightmare, once and for all. When our families had realized it was useless to try to convince us otherwise, I had contacted Kikouka, and told him that I was agreeing to the plan.

He had arranged for us to get a private hospital room, and our own private nurses to keep an eye on us in case anything would happen. But I was still extremely nervous. Who knew what Sugou was going to do when we finally confronted him in there. In GGO. Who knew WHAT he could do, with his amount of money and power.

Maybe he had even gotten game master privileges for this game as well. I didn´t know what he had planned for us at the time, but I knew he was prepared for us. Asuna being here with me did give me some comfort in my nervousness though, I must admit.

Aki Natsuki, who was our private nurse at the time, and also the person being responsible for my rehabilitation after getting out of ALO, was currently checking the heartbeat monitors for both me and Asuna, before giving us both a thumbs and a smile.

"Everything is clear guys" She said with a smile as she looked at us "Now, if something bad should happen, the Amusphere should pull you out of the game if your body takes damage, so don´t worry about that"

"Good, thanks Natsuki-san" I said with a smile as I sighed a little.

"Aww, Kirito" She mumbled with a disappointed expression "You know it´s Aki!"

"I-I´m sorry" I mumbled as I smiled softly, looking over at Asuna "Are you ready hun?"

"All ready" Asuna said with a smile and looked down at her phone, where she had Yui pulled up on an app "Now, Yui, I will give my phone to Aki now. If you want to follow us in there, just let Aki know, ok?"

"Ok mommy" Yui mumbled with a worried expression "Just, be careful ok? I would hate to lose my daddy and mommy"

"We know honey" Asuna said with a warm smile "We´ll be careful ok?"

Asuna kissed the phone´s screen softly before handing the phone to Aki, and lying down. I lied down as well and took a deep breath, preparing myself for the worst. I looked over at Asuna and reached for her hand, and she did the same with me.

"Ready?" I asked softly.

"Ready" She said with a smile and a nod.

"Then…" I started as I looked up at the ceiling, and gave Asuna´s hand a little squeeze.

"Link, Start!" We yelled in unison, as we were thrown into the virtual realm once again.

A/N

Hey guys! Hope you liked this chapter!

It´s finally coming down to this! I have been so excited to include GGO in my fanfic, and it´s finally happening! #Excited

I hope you guys are excited too! Let´s see what happens next chapter, shall we?

See you next week dear readers!


	22. Chapter 22 - Gathering Intelligence

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 22 – The Smell of Warfare_

The first thing I noticed when I woke up in GGO, was that even the character creation room looked like a battlefield. As soon as I opened my eyes, a vast desert-like wasteland lied spread before me to all sides, building laying in crumble, vehicles of all sorts burning all over the place, and a distinct smell of the mix between oil and gunpowder filled my nose.

Due to the preparations Asuna and me had done before we entered, we knew we only had to enter our usernames for our characters to be created. Outer appearance wise, we could choose to let our Amuspheres scan our outer traits and make a character based on those data, or make a new character from the ground up.

Though I didn´t want to waste time doing my character from the bottom. We didn´t come here to have fun. We came here to stop one of Japan´s most dangerous men, wreaking havoc. I didn´t have time for pleasantries when that psychopath could be out there, hurting more people than he already had.

But then again, masking my identity from the parasite would be a tactical advantage. If I had a new body and appearance, he wouldn´t know who I was when we confronted him. He would be defenseless, unknowing.

I shook my head at the idea though. I simply didn´t have time.

I put in my name and waited for the system to spawn me into the game. As the blinding light that followed slowly disappeared I blinked my eyes open, revealed to the world of Gun Gale Online.

My clothes had a strong resemblance to the once I had worn in SAO. They mostly considered of a long black coat, with metal plates placed on my shoulders and chest. I was also wearing a set of simple dark jeans with metal strapped along my kneecaps, and heavy military boots with metal strapped on top.

When I turned to look around in the new gaming world, I caught something out of the corner of my eye. It was a long dark lock of hair, laying on my shoulder. I looked at it perplexed, before grabbing at it and pulling hard.

"Aow!" I yelled as I felt a stinging pain in the back of my head.

I clasped my hands onto my head, confused. I grabbed some of my hair and ran my fingers along with it. It just went on, and on, and on. When I reached the end of it, I realized my hair had grown, so much in fact that it was reaching even past my shoulders, ending around my mid-back.

"What!? What the hell!?" I yelled loudly in surprise and confusion.

About 5 meters from me, I could hear soft giggling. I turned my head and saw a young girl, a little shorter than me. Long blond hair that reached to her lower back, sparkling brown eyes and a couple of freckles on She was wearing a dark green shirt and protection vest, long black jeans and heavy military boots like mine.

Her clothes was accompanied with metal plates all around on her arms, her chest and her legs, though they seemed smaller and a little lighter than mine.

"Hey! What´s so funny!?" I asked with a growl as I walked up to her.

"judging by your voice, I guess it´s you Kazuto" the girl said with a laugh "And to answer your question, the fact that you look like a girl is funny!"

"Huh!? Asuna!?" I yelled, blushing dark red as I realized it was her "I-I swear I didn´t pick this hairstyle! Something went horribly wrong!"

"A-Actually…" Asuna mumbled while she desperately tried to stop laughing "I-It´s not that uncommon to get a male character with long hair in this game"

"W-Who the hell came up with this design idea!?" I yelled as I pulled angrily at my long hair.

I realized my hair was almost as long as Asuna´s, making it all the more girly. I blushed dark red and pouted a bit as I glared at Asuna, sweatdropping a bit as I sighed.

"I damn hope there´s a way to change your haircut" I mumbled softly as I stepped over to Asuna with another sigh.

It seems she had taken her time with customizing her character, seeing how I didn´t even recognize her until she spoke, letting me hear the voice I had become so used to over the years.

"I´m not sure exactly" Asuna said with a giggle "But at least no one we know is playing this game"

"Whenever I´m getting a copy myself" I said with a pout "I´m making my own character"

"But," Asuna said as she finally stopped giggling "I have to say, your character looks a lot like you Kazuto. Or should I call you Kirito now?"

"Either is fine, miss Lightning Flash" I said with a smile as I kissed her cheek "Well, how do we find the parasite? After all, we don´t really have any leads right now"

"Yeah, you´re right" Asuna mumbled as she put a hand on her cheek, deep in thought "And we don´t know if Sugou chanced his appearance when he entered GGO"

"Hmm, maybe we should start by asking around" I mumbled with a sigh "That´s the best lead I can offer right now"

"Yeah, good idea" Asuna said with an approving nod.

"Oh, and one more thing" I said with a teasing smirk as I leaned over and whispered in her ear "You look sexy with blond hair"

I smirked a bit and turned on my heel to walk over and talk to a group of people standing by a nearby building. I could tell that Asuna was deeply embarrassed though as I heard her silently murmuring to herself.

After a while of talking, and about no valuable information, I sat down on the sidewalk, wondering what I should do as the next step. I sighed a bit as I put my head in my hands, the gears in my head turning at top speed to find out how to find Sugou.

"No luck huh?"

I looked up from my crouched down position, and found Asuna standing over me, with a half disappointed smile.

"No, I have nothing" I said with a sigh as I stood up beside her "Judging from your expression, I guess you´re the same?"

"Yeah, exactly" Asuna mumbled with a sigh "I have nothing. This might be tougher than we thought"

"Right now, we have no choice but to keep trying" I said with a frown "We can´t let that parasite get away with what he´s done"

"Yeah, I know" Asuna said, a sense of anger rising over her "I still owe him a butt kicking for what he did to you"

"You shouldn´t fight with revenge on your mind" I said with a soft smile as I took her hand "It will only fall back on you eventually"

"I know, I know" She said with a smile as she squeezed my own hand, lacing her fingers with mine "If I think too much about it, it might distract me when we finally confront that snake"

"Exactly" I said with an approving nod "We have to be prepared. Actually, now that I think about it, maybe we need some weapons for when we confront him"

"Yeah, you´re right" Asuna said with a smile as she looked over at me "But, we don´t know this place. How are we supposed to find our way?"

"I think I saw an electric bulletin board down the street earlier" I said with a smile "Sometimes it´s showing an electric map over this safe zone. We should be able to use that"

"Sounds good" Asuna said with a smile "Let´s find some way of getting some money first though. You have any ideas?"

"Actually, I might be able to help you with that"

I widened my eyes and we both spun around on our heels as we suddenly heard a voice somewhere near us.

It was a girl, looking like she was about our age, maybe 16, or 17. She was having short light blue hair that only reached to a little under her ears, and shining crystal blue eyes. She was also holding some kind of rifle in the strap over her shoulder. She was wearing a very light kind of soldier uniform. It was, to say it in the simplest sense, revealing.

The suit revealed about up to mid-waist, and only consisted of a short shirt and short shorts-like pants, with what seemed to be pant leggings that could be strapped on to the shorts or removed at any time the owner wished. The outfit had a lot of open space everywhere, revealing a lot of the girl´s skin all over her body.

'That outfit can´t possibly protect her, can it?' I asked myself as I stared at her for a moment.

I blushed a little as I noticed her outfit, but quickly averted my eyes to not give Asuna any wrong ideas.

She of course immediately picked up and sent a glare my way, and an elbow in my rips.

"Kaaazzuuuutoooo…" Asuna whispered warningly as she gripped my hand tightly, a little too tight in fact.

"I-I´m sorry…" I whimpered, desperately trying to free my hand from her tight grip. "I-I´m really, really sorry!"

The girl was having a self-satisfied smirk on her face as she stepped up towards us, tugging softly at the strap hanging onto her sniper confidently.

"Well it´s easy to see who´s got the command in that relationship" She said with a warm chuckle and a smirk.

"If you want money," She said as she beamed a smile at us "I know a quick way to get it"

"Huh? Really?" I asked, her offer piquing my interest "Is it some kind of casino or something?"

"You could say that" The girl said with a smile "If you want I could take you there"

Suddenly Asuna pulled me away from the girl and covered my mouth before I could answer, smiling innocently at the girl.

"If you would please excuse us for two minutes" She said as she dragged me away by the collar.

"H-Hey! What the hell!?" I yelled as I was dragged a bit down the street.

When Asuna finally stopped and pulled me back on my feet, I dusted myself off and looked at her in confusion.

"What the hell was that about!?" I said in a mix of confusion and anger.

"Don´t just go ahead and trust that girl" Asuna said as she pointed a finger at me in accusation "We don´t know who she is! She might just be working with the parasite!"

That was true. I didn´t know who that girl was. Heck, I didn´t even know her name. Her chance of working with that bastard was just as good as the chances of her being just a normal stranger.

But, even so, I didn´t think she was an enemy. I didn´t know how I knew, or why I felt like I did, but this girl somehow made me feel like she was a trustworthy person.

Even so, we still had to be extra careful. Something might happen out of nowhere, and catch us off guard. We had to be aware of our surroundings at all times, and not trust anyone random like that.

It saddened me a bit that we had to meet everyone with a glint of suspicion though. What have the world become?

"I know you´re scared Asuna," I said with a caring voice and a gentle smile "but, I still feel like we can trust that girl"

"How do you know?" Asuna asked with a concerned expression.

I knew she simply wanted to protect the people she held dear, just like me. And my heart always melted when I thought about how much concern she had for the ones she held dear.

But even though she was protective, caring and loving, she often hid in her own shell, only revealing herself and taking chances when she had to. She was often insecure of herself, and her ability to fight, and I could often see that in the way of her behavior, also sometimes affecting her combat abilities in ALO.

I knew that if we wanted to have even the slightest chance of finding and imprisoning our target, we had to take chances every now and again. And this seemed like a chance that was too good to pass up upon.

"I don´t know" I mumbled as an answer to Asuna´s question "Call it a gut feeling. And we can always try and run if something goes wrong"

"Yeah, that´s true" Asuna mumbled with a defeated sigh "let´s at least ask her a couple of questions before we go with her"

"Fair enough" I mumbled as I brushed away the last bits of dust on my clothes.

Only now I noticed that Asuna was still holding an iron grip onto my shirt collar. I tugged a bit at my shirt and chuckled softly as I looked at Asuna with a rise of an eyebrow, wanting to point out the issue of her still hanging onto my neck with a claw-like grip.

"Uh Asuna?" I asked as I pointed up at my neck "Would you mind?"

Asuna looked at her hand for a while, before realizing what she was doing. She widened her eyes and blushed a little as she immediately let go of my collar, letting me free of her iron grip.

"Oh sorry!" She yelped as she hid her face away in embarrassment "L-let´s just get back to her already"

"Fine, take it easy" I said with a chuckle as we began walking back to the girl that had approached us.

I smiled softly as we stepped up to the girl, and she beamed a smile back.

"No offense, but," I said as a start as I cleared my throat "we want to ask you a few questions about yourself first before we just follow you. Might be a trap for all we know right?"

"No, no it´s fine" The girl said with a nod, blowing some of her hair out of her eyes "What do you want to know?"

"First of all, who are you?" Asuna asked as she took a step forward, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well, online I´m known as Sinon" The girl said with a smile "My goal is to compete in, and win, the Bullet of the Bullets tournament"

"Huh? Bullet of Bullets tournament?" I asked, finding an interest in the tournament "What´s that?"

"You don´t know what it is?" Sinon asked in surprise as she looked at us in astonishment "You guys must be really new to this game"

"We literally just spawned in 20 minutes ago" Asuna said with a chuckle "but we can talk about the tournament some other time. Please tell us more about yourself"

"Well, There´s not much I can tell you" Sinon said with a smile "If I said too much about my real self I might just get in danger myself. But I can tell you as much as I´m 16 years old, and yes, I´m actually a girl"

The last bit was accompanied by a snicker and a small laugh from Sinon as she continued.

"I´ve played this game ever since it was first released a while back" She said proudly "though I have never won the Bullet of the Bullet tournament, that is the whole point of my playing. To get stronger and win the tournament"

"Well, I guess that´s as good a start as any" Asuna said with a smile and a nod "Ok, we trust you for now. Let´s hope we become good friends Sinon"

"Yeah, lets" Sinon said with an approving nod "Who are you guys then? It would seem fair if I get to know a bit about you guys"

"Fair enough I guess" I said with a smile as I put a hand out for her to take "I´m Kirito, and this is-"

I was about to say Asuna´s real name but I caught myself in the act before I put it through.

'I need to be careful. Let Asuna handle it' I said to myself internally as I looked over at Asuna pleadingly, wanting her to help me.

"I-I´m Yuuki" Asuna said with a gentle smile as she put out her hand as well.

Sinon smiled a bit and nodded softly as she shook both our hands, opening her menu and sending us both friend requests.

"Good to meet you both" Sinon said with a smile as she tapped on her menu "I´m sending you both friend requests now"

"Great, our first friend in GGO" I said enthusiastically "Do you trust her now Asuna?"

"I already told you, yes, for now" She said with a roll of her eyes "Sinon, could you please take us to that place you mentioned?"

"Yeah sure, follow me" She said as she began walking down the street, her white scarf swaying slightly in the slight wind running over us.

I smiled softly over at Asuna and she smiled back at me.

"Finding our way in here will be a lot easier now" I said to her as we followed Sinon down the street.

"Yeah, and she can probably tell us a lot about how the game works too" Asuna said with a warm smile "Let´s just hope we can trust her"

"I think we can though" I said with a smile "I don´t believe we have to be so suspicious like this"

"Maybe" Asuna said wonderingly as she put a finger to her chin, deep in thought.

"Hey, you two, pick up the pace" Sinon suddenly yelled from a bit in front of us.

As we realized Sinon had pulled away from us, we quickly picked up the pace, and hurried after her down the street.

**A/N**

**Hey guys! Hope you liked this chapter!**

**This is the first chapter in the Phantom Bullet Arc, and I am so excited to post more of these bad boys!**

**Sorry if the quality isn´t as high as it usually is guys. The never ending curse of Writers Block has revisited me once again. Damn you writers block!**

**Again, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and see you next week guys!**


	23. Chapter 23 - The BoB Tournament

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 23 – The BoB Tournament_

I looked around me in amazed wonder as Asuna, Sinon and I, made our way into an open plaza. All around us glimmering billboards shone greatly, young women everywhere was standing outside every store in revealing clothes, and was advertising for all kinds of clothes, armor and weapons. Booming megaphones blasted from every street corner, telling us to try out their new weapon collection.

"_The best weapons for every need!"_

"_Want a stat increase?! You have to try this sick new armor!"_

"_Are you ready!? The BoB Tournament is about to start!"_

Several times I was even called out directly, men and women alike trying to pull me along and try their new weapons.

There was even one time where a young woman NPC, programmed to look about 17 or 18 of age, pulled me along to her shop and tried convincing me to buy a new weapon. And let´s just say she was using some questionable sales method, involving pressing herself up against me and offering herself to me if I bought the weapon, much to Asuna´s dislike, and much to Sinon´s amusement.

About 20 minutes, and several painful hits in the back of my head, later, we finally arrived at the weapon shop Sinon had been talking about. She smirked a bit as she turned around and looked back at us as she stood by the entrance to the shop.

Asuna was walking in front of me, her arms crossed across her chest and a pout on her lips as she stepped up beside Sinon and looked back at me with an angry huff.

"Come on Kirito! We don´t have all day!" Asuna said with a glare as she looked at me from a distance.

"I´m coming, I´m coming" I mumbled as I rubbed my sore cheek, where several red hand marks had been planted.

I sighed softly as I stepped up to the girls with an expression that much matched the one of a kicked puppy. Sinon smirked a bit as she stepped forward and made the automatic doors slide aside, walking in to reveal a giant center filled with various booths, shops and spaces with gambling slots and machines, where you could win anything from money, to weapons, to sales coupons for the nearby restaurant.

Sinon smiled softly as she led us through the buzzling crowd, waving hello to several men and women her age, as she headed straight for a gambling spot in the far back. I stared at what I at the time thought was some kind of shooting ranch, but when we got closer I realized it was some kind of gambling game.

"Sinon, what is this?" I asked curiously as we stepped up to the decent crowd around the game space.

"It´s one of the most popular games in the gambling arcade" Sinon said with a smirk "You run down that lane while trying to avoid that NPS´s bullets. If you manage to get all the way up to him, and tap him on the shoulder, all the cash that earlier players have cashed in goes to you"

I widened my eyes a bit and looked up at the counter above the NPC´s head.

"25 million!?" I gasped in stunned silence, staring up at the blaring billboard "How many players have tried this?!"

"I don´t know, but it´s a lot of money" Sinon said with a smirk "If you want to try, go ahead and try. I´m just warning you, at the end of the lane, sometimes you have to react within half a second"

"Then how do you know where he´s going to shoot?" Asuna asked curiously as she pulled a lock of her hair behind her ear.

"There´s a system in this game, called bullet prediction lines" Sinon said as she began explaining the game system "When a bullet is fired and you know where the player firing is, a line appears where the bullet is going to fly. It´s your goal to avoid those lines. I´ve tried myself several times, but I never succeeded"

"Sounds promising" Asuna said with a sarcastic giggle "Well, it doesn´t hurt to try"

She smirked confidently and walked up to the podium to cash in her offering. The NPC in the end of the lane sprung to life, immediately starting to try and intimidate her.

"_I´m gonna crush you!"_

As soon as Asuna stepped up on the plate, irritated or excited whispering emanated thrugh the open space around the game.

"Huh? The noob is going to try?" One man in the corner mumbled to a friend "Hmph, she´ll never even make it to the ten yard line"

"Nah, she´s done for man" Another whispered "She doesn´t know what she´s in for"

Asuna blocked out their bad attempts at distracting her though, and

As soon as the gates to the lane opened, Asuna began sprinting down the thin lane. She didn´t have much space to move around on, so she had to be vigilant, fast, and her reaction time had to be exceptional.

She sprinted down the small space, avoiding bullet´s left and right. The NPC began getting nervous and fired bullet after bullet, sometimes three at a time, and I could see a drop of sweat rolling down his face. He reloaded and completely emptied his magazine in his revolver, but Asuna slid under the barrage of bullets, and smirked slightly as she made it the last bit, and gently tapped the cowboy on his right shoulder.

The NPC, and the crowd around the game, stood in stunned silence. The crowd stared at Asuna as she threw her hair back over her back, smiling gently at the cowboy NPC, which was still staring at her in utter disbelief.

"_NOOOOOOooOoooooo"_

The NPC screamed loudly in defeat as the billboard above him swung aside, and opened up for a giant safe behind it. The safe sprung open and let it´s contents sprawl onto the floor everywhere around the NPC and Asuna, being millions and millions of brightly gleaming gold coins.

Asuna smirked confidently as she snapped her fingers and made the gold coins disappear and cash into her personal avatar storage. She turned her back to the NPC and headed back down the lane, and the NPC sprung back from his defeated crouch down position, and began intimidating anyone who dared to play his game like nothing had ever happened.

I smiled silently and chuckled slightly as Asuna walked up to us. I high fived her and laughed a little as Asuna, Sinon and I, turned and left the arcade, the other players gawking at us, their chins basically resting at the floor as they watched us leave in stunned silence.

"I have to say, I´m impressed Yuuki," Sinon said with a proud smirk "it´s clear to see that you´re used to reacting fast. How did you do it?"

"Well, I don´t know" Asuna said with a shrug "I guess I´m used to reacting quickly. I come straight from games like ALO and SAO after all"

"WHAT!?" Sinon gasped a bit and widened her eyes "You´re one of the original 10.000 SAO players?"

Asuna widened her eyes a bit and clasped her hands onto her mouth as she realized her mistake, but the secret was out. Asuna had mistakenly let Sinon know that she was one of the original SAO victims.

"U-Uhm I uh no uhm…" Asuna became flustered, her cheeks burning a bit in embarrassment and panic.

Sinon frowned a bit as she glared over at me with an angry expression. She must have realized that we had held secrets from her, by depending on Asuna´s reaction to her surprised outburst.

"Does that mean you´re an SAO victim too?" She asked sharply, glaring holes at me.

I flinched a bit at her stern glare and silently nodded as answer.

"I knew I had heard that name before" Sinon said with a wondering expression "You´re the guy who cleared the game, and saved the remaining players, right?"

"U-Uhh, right" I mumbled silently, not able to think about anything else to say.

"Who are you people?" Sinon asked as she frowned in seriousness "Talk to me guys!"

"I-I´m sorry Sinon, but…" I mumbled as I took a quick glance over at Asuna "but we can´t tell you until we´re certain we can trust you"

"Hmph, fine, let me prove myself then" Sinon huffed a bit as she opened her menu "The qualification tournament for the BoB is starting in about 2 hours. If I make it to the finals and win, it will prove that I am nothing but a humble gamer. That should be enough proof right?"

"I don´t know about that, but" I mumbled as I scratched my cheek insecurely "I guess it´s the only way for you to prove yourself"

"That´s settled then" Sinon said with a huff as she crossed her arms over her chest "You guys should enter too. That way I can get back at you for keeping secrets from me"

"Wait, what!?" I mumbled in surprise "You expect us to know how to use a gun!?"

"Yeah, you ARE playing Gun Gale Online" Sinon said with a chuckle "And with all that money Asuna won, you should be more than capable to get some amazing weapons and armory"

"B-B-But I have never even touched a gun!" I yelled in distress "Give me a sword and i´ll slash up anything, but I have absolutely no training with a gun what so ever"

"Huh? A sword you say?" Sinon said with a surprised expression, which turned to a smirk "Then I might have a solution for you. Follow me, there´s a weapon shop right nearby"

"H-Huh?"

I looked back at Asuna and she shrugged, smiling a little as she began to follow Sinon down the street.

"Are you coming or what?" She said with a smirk as she hurried me along.

"All right, all right I´m coming" I said in a hurry as I hurried after them.

After about a minute of walking, we already arrived at the shop Sinon had been talking about. As we walked in, shelfs was neatly placed and arranged to either show off a certain weapon, or weapon type. Snipers, machine guns, pistols, shotguns. Everything the heart could lust for was neatly set up in each of its own glass display, for everyone´s eyes to goggle at.

In the back of the store, Sinon finally stopped and turned around to look at me and Asuna as she proudly showed one of the weapons the game was most famous about, and even so, me and Asuna knew absolutely nothing of it.

Several lightsabers adorned the walls and glass cases, carefully placed on well formed metal displays for everyone´s wonder. Their blades hummed silently as they laid there, silently shining their blade´s light, which was every color you could think of, from red, to blue, to green, to yellow. Whatever your favorite color might be, they had it.

I widened my eyes and smiled widely as I adorned the shimmering blades, like the huge nerd I was. As I approached the glass display, a pop up menu appeared in front of me, revealing three options. I could either buy the sword immediately, try a demo version, or cancel my buy. I pondered for a bit before deciding to try out the sword for a moment.

I pressed the demo button and immediately, the sword´s hilt materialized in my hands. I smiled a little at the sword´s heavy weight, and tried doing my most basic sword skill from SAO, the 4 swing combo. It felt fantastic. It was almost like The Elucidator was back in my hands. I pressed the button and made the blade disappear with a whoosh, before I made the item dematerialize once again.

"So? How did it feel Kirito?" Sinon asked with a smile "Confident enough to try a gun now?"

"One thing´s for certain, I´m buying this sword" I said with a smirk as I borrowed some of Asuna´s prize money and bought the sword.

"You can´t survive only with a plasma sword though" Sinon said with a smile "You´ll have to get a gun!"

"Ok, but can we at least try with something small?" I mumbled, the girls chuckling softly at my insecurity.

I pouted a bit and stuffed my hands into my pockets as I followed Sinon and Asuna to a nearby shooting range.

I looked down the about 20 to 30 meters long lane. The target dummy at the end of the lane seemed incomprehensively small from here, and I gulped nervously as I looked over at Sinon with an insecure expression.

"H-How am I supposed to hit that!?" I yelled in distraught as I pointed at the target dummy "I could never hit that!"

"Don´t worry you pansy" Sinon said with a chuckle as she pressed a button "We´re pulling it in a little longer for you, so calm down"

"B-But still…" I mumbled as I stared at the small handgun currently resided on the table in front of us.

"Just calm down and listen" Sinon said with an hurried huff "We don´t have that much time before the qualifying round, so we have to be quick"

"Fine, let´s get it out of our system" I mumbled with a huff as I picked up the gun "Now, tell me how to work this damn thing"

"Right" Sinon said with a satisfied smirk Try looking down the gun"

I did as requested, and widened a bit as I saw a retracting and expanding zone on my HUD.

"Now, you see that zone, right?" Sinon said and I nodded in response "This is the zone where the bullet is most likely to pass. It extends and retracts according to your heartbeat. The slower or faster the heartbeat, the slower or faster the bullet zone"

"Got it" I mumbled silently "So it appears over where I´m aiming, am I right?"

"Right" Sinon said with a nod "As long as you keep yourself calm, you should be able to hit your target"

"Good, now, let´s see here" I mumbled silently as Sinon walked to the booth beside mine, to teach Asuna the same things she had just taught me.

I took a couple of deep breaths as I began aiming with my gun again, towards the dummy´s head, which was currently about 10 meters away. I took another deep breath, then held it, before aiming intensely at the dummy.

It felt like the world around me disappeared. Every noise was blocked and faded out as well. The only thing I could hear was the silent sound of my own breathing and heartbeat. I pulled the trigger, and…

The bullet went straight through the forehead of the dummy.

Sinon widened her eyes and turned herself towards me, stunned silently from the sight I had created.

"H-How… How did you…?" She mumbled in stunned silence, then finally manage to break her voice "HOW THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT!?"

"Eh?" I mumbled silently, surprised by her sudden yelling "W-What have I done!?"

"Y-You hit the dummy´s head!" She yelled in response, the others in the range looking on in curious amusement "No noob has ever done that on the first try!"

"H-Hey! Don´t call me a noob!" I yelled, taking slight offense to that "I-I´m the black swordsman dammit! I ain´t no noob!"

"WHHAAAAATTT!?"

I looked around in wonder as the rest of the range suddenly erupted in excited yelling. Everyone suddenly came running, crowding around the three of us. I had suddenly realized that, out of slight offended anger, I had yelled out my true gaming identity to the public.

"Oh damn…" I mumbled silently as the crowd grew bigger and bigger.

"Is it really you, black swordsman-sama!?"

"I´m a huge fan of yours! Where the hell have you been!?"

"P-Please!? Can I have an autograph!?"

The crowd grew even bigger, and eventually, there was a man made mass all around me and Asuna´s booths. I tried calming down the hoard the best I could, but they just kept coming. At one point, I even think I saw a camera blitz or two.

Suddenly, through the mass, a feminine hand grabbed my collar and pulled me through the massive mass, away from the crowd. I sighed a little from happiness as I realized it was Asuna, who was pulling me along by the hand as we hurried down the hall, and into a nearby phone booth.

As Asuna and I pressed ourselves against each other to fit in the phone booth that was normally only designed for one person, we could hear how the crowd of adoring fans rushed just by.

"Where the hell did he go!?"

"We have to find him! I still haven´t gotten my autograph!"

"Maybe he went down this alley!"

The sound of heavy footsteps soon began disappearing down the street, and I chuckled softly as I looked at Asuna with a smile.

"Whoops" I said in a teaseful tone.

We both soon burst out laughing, finding this situation amusing.

"That was so funny" Asuna mumbled as she tried silencing her laughs, failing miserably.

"Yeah, it was" I mumbled softly, brushing away a tear that had been wailing up in the corner of my eye from laughing "And now we´re like this, crammed inside a phone booth!"

"Y-Yeah, we are.." Asuna mumbled with a slight blush on her cheeks "I think I like being this close to my boyfriend though?"

"Oh? You do?" I asked with a smile and a raised eyebrow "Would you mind if we stayed like this for a while longer then?"

"Not at all" Asuna said with a smirk as she leaned against me "So, what are we going to do?"

"I can think of something" I said with a smile as I leaned against her as well, about to kiss her lips, when-

"Are you guys going to stay in there forever?"

Suddenly a familiar voice emanated from outside the phone booth, and we quickly separated as we realized Sinon was standing right outside, and peaking in from the small window higher up on the booth wall. We scrambled outside in a rush, and fixed our clothes, Asuna quick to glare at Sinon and come up with accusations.

"S-Sinon!" She yelled loudly as she pointed at her sharply "You could have said something you know! Pervert!"

"Well, I did, didn´t I?" Sinon replied with her usual calm manner, accompanied by a smirk "Come on, the qualifying round is beginning in less than 10 minutes"

And with that she turned on her heel and began sprinting down the street, her scarf waving after her. Asuna and I exchanged a quick glance at each other, and shared a sigh, before we sprinted after her in a rush.

"H-Hey! Wait up!"

And with that, we hurried down the street, chasing someone who, in the future, would be one of our biggest rivals to date.

**A/N**

**Hey guys! Hope you guys enjoyed this little filler chapter I put in!**

**Yeah I know, fillers are stupid, but every once in a while, you got to have some fluffy nonsense in any kind of fanfic!**

**And also, I have something to ask of you guys. **

**I´m considering making a Tumblr page, where I can post short stories every now and again.**

**Do you guys like the idea, or should I stick to doing fanfics on this page?**

**I have leaved a poll for you guys on my account page, so go check it out if you have the time. Your feedback is always appreciated. I will leave it there for, shall we say, the next three months? Sound good to you guys? Great!**

**Again, thank you guys so much for reading, and see you next time!**


	24. Chapter 24 - Deathgun's Awakening

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 24 – Deathguns awakening_

I took a deep, raspy breath and swallowed my fear along with my spit as I stared up at the massive looming stadium. I was sure that, as a witness to the events that was about to unfold, the stadium would be as welcoming as ever. Warm food stands and ticket booths with shouting sales clerks was standing everywhere, offering hot-dogs, popcorn, or hot deals on tickets for whoever would watch the tournament.

As a contestant however, the building couldn´t have seemed more scary. I knew that, inside, a few rooms would be filled to the brim with happy and excited people that looked forward to see the qualification matches for the BoB tournament begin. But I also knew, that most of the space inside would be used to safe-keep the participants, until it was time to get out there and kill each other, for contesting.

I didn´t like the thought. Asuna and I had both been scarred by that last battle against the remaining pieces of the Laughing Coffin murder guild. Asuna maybe not as much as I, but to some extend. We had both sworn never to kill again after that. And even though I knew I wouldn´t be killing for real, the mere thought of me sending bullets through a virtual body seemed incredibly cruel and unnatural.

Even for me, who had killed several people in order to protect the people I cared about and loved. It almost seemed like I would be getting used to it after a while, seeming I had killed in total about 5 different people, and accused of the reason of the death of several others. I had seen so much death around me, and yet I still agreed to go in here. It seemed like a crazy idea now, even crazier than it had back then.

I stared up at the looming building with a mixed feeling of fear, anger and regret mixing in my abdomen. My nervousness and fear was beginning to make me feel sick, almost at the point of puking, if my avatar body actually had had any internal fluids to even empty itself of.

As a reliever, I began thinking how much Sugou had hurt my family. Had hurt me. For years now he had haunted me, he had literally tortured me for months, until I was finally released from ALO. Then, out of the blue, he of course had to turn up again, threatening not just me, but my family, my friends, my whole reason to exist at their lives.

He had inexplicably brought so much pain and suffering into the lives of both of our families, and worry into the lives of our friends. We had promised them that this soon would end, and that we wouldn´t endanger ourselves. But, it seemed we had to break the last promise to keep the first.

Just the thought of his smug face as he would inflict pain on me or someone I loved sent a chill of dread down my spine. But it was then immediately warmed up by an intense anger, that slowly began eating up my nervousness. I forgot everything about fear. And looked up at the stadium with a serious expression.

I knew this tournament only served for Sinon to prove that we could trust us. But, at the same time, it could help us with Sugou. If we advertised enough for ourselves, and put our names on the blackboard, Sugou might be so stupid that when he noticed us, he would try an attack.

And when he would, we would be ready. I would be ready to pay him back for all the pain over the years he had brought upon my family and myself. I could no longer stand around and do nothing, that much I knew now. So with one last encouraging and deep breath, I squeezed Asuna´s hand tight as we followed Sinon inside the massive and crammed stadium.

As we walked inside, I was slightly intimidated by all the angry glares and stares that was sent our way. I admired Sinon for her way of just plowing straight through it all, without paying attention to a single of the other contestants glares. I however, noticed every last one of them, and I got more and more nervous from the glares intensity alone.

When we finally reached the changing rooms, me and the girls parted way so we each could get our privacy. I sighed silently as I sat down on a bench in the boys changing room, looking down at my menu with a nervous expression.

The numbers in the menu said it all. To be honest, I didn´t have anything to be nervous about. I had some of the rarest and strongest equipment I could get with my standards, which would most likely protect me from any kind of danger. Even if I would die in the game, I wouldn´t die in real life, and even if my body´s reactions became too much, I knew that Aki would pull us both out of the game right away.

So technically, I had no reason to be so nervous. Everything was checked and cleared, this dive was idiot proof. And still, I couldn´t shake off this feeling that something would go horribly, horribly wrong. I kept telling myself it was just nerves, but… I was never really able to convince myself.

I sighed silently as I checked my equipment through, to check everything was in place. As I had checked everything, I stood up and took a deep breath, before exiting the changing room with heavy footsteps.

I had stood in the lobby for around 10 minutes when the girls had finally ended checking through their equipment. I smiled silently as Asuna stepped out of the changing room, in her new battle outfit and a machine gun around her neck in a strap.

Even in an army game she managed to put everything perfectly together, not only in a practical way, but she had also somehow managed to make her outfit look stylish and cool. She had apparently equipped a dye on her clothes, since her shorts and jacket was white, her tank top was red, and the strap and her heavy army boots was red with small sword imprints.

I smiled silently and waved at them shortly as I saw them exit the changing room, sighing silently as I looked up at the news bulletin. Apparently I was in the first battle, against some guy named Kyouta. I frowned silently from worry, the bad feeling getting more intense by the second.

"Kirito, you ok?" Asuna asked as she snaked her hand into mine.

I closed my fingers around her hand and nodded silently as I smiled apologetically.

"Yeah, I´m fine Asuna" I mumbled as I looked into her eyes "I´m sorry I make you worry all the time"

"You can´t do anything about it" She said with a smile "It´s part of being your partner. And I wish to fulfill that roll fully"

I nodded silently and sighed a little, my nervousness having dissipated slightly. I smiled and squeezed her hand as I kissed her cheek.

"You´re always the responsible one" I mumbled as I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close.

I was kind of longing for her to be close to me right now. My nervousness made me a little clingy sometimes, and it was a little embarrassing. Lucky me that I have such an understanding girlfriend as Asuna.

She smiled silently as she pulled me close as well, wrapping her arms around my neck in a hug.

"I know dummy" She whispered in my ear.

Suddenly a screech was formed over the speakers in the roof, followed by a female voice.

"Would Kirito, and Kyouta please get battle ready? The fight starts in 15 seconds. I repeat…"

I sighed silently as I gave Asuna´s slender body a small squeeze as I parted away from her.

"I guess it´s me first" I said with a smile "Root for me ok?"

"I will handsome" She said with a smile as she kissed my cheek "Good luck"

As I turned away from Asuna I frowned slightly from worry and nervousness as I stared up at the monitor featuring the stage for the fight.

"…_3…2…1…"_

As my teleportation was complete, and the light around me vanished, I looked around me with a curious expression. It seemed like I had arrived in the middle of some kind of ruin, maybe from what was supposed to look like a lost civilization. I looked around for a bit, until I heard some rustling of the grass, and quickly dived behind a crumbled wall for cover.

I closed my eyes and listened intently on any kind of clue to where my opponent was. I focused on blocking out any kind of sound coming from outside, the only things I heard for a few moments was only my own heartbeat. Until I heard some rustling of grass, and something that sounded like a recoil on a gun being pulled back.

I growled silently and drew both my new plasma sword and my pistol, charging towards the place I had heard the sounds. True as it was told, a tall guy was walking around between the dense trees, trying to figure out where he was.

As I charged he panicked a little and began firing at me with his machine gun. I dodged to the left and reflected a couple of bullets with my sword, jumping into cover behind a tree nearby. He growled silently as he switched magazine and ran to the opposite side of the battlefield.

I took a couple of quick and deep breaths to calm myself down. I understood why people liked this game. It was so immersive that you couldn´t help but feel that distinctive adrenaline rush flow through you. The fear would mix into excitement, and before you knew it, you would be so immersed that you would never stop playing again.

Though, I still didn´t like the thought of killing my opponent. Even though I knew he wouldn´t die for real, I still felt a sickening sensation along my stomach and throat whenever I would think about it. I swallowed my fear and stepped out from my hiding place, scouting around for my opponent.

Not long after I stepped out of my hiding, my opponent did the same. He growled aggressively and emptied his magazine in his attempt in killing me, and he was pretty close a few times.

I dodged the bullets I could as I used my sword to my advantage. I growled silently as I forced my way through the storm of bullets, the melody of steel against plasma loudly filling the air as I deflected any lethal bullet out of the way with my sword.

The guy soon ran out of bullets in his magazine and rushed to reload, but I didn´t let him get the chance. AS soon as he dropped the magazine out of his hands, I rushed forward, readying my sword for the finishing blow. I charged forward and let out my infamous battle cry, about to impale the poor guy with my sword, when he suddenly pulled out a hand gun from his belt.

He had caught me by surprise, and managed to hit me once in the abdomen and shoulder, and strafe my side a bit with his third bullet. I moaned slightly from the slight irritation I felt from the bullet wounds, and jumped back into hiding.

"Damn…" I mumbled silently as I watched my hp bar sink to the low yellow line "I guess I have to surprise him somehow. Charging recklessly get´s me nowhere!"

I could hear his heavy footsteps approach, so I hurried to move away from my current location. The fact that he hit me so much earlier had made him cocky, which in this situation worked for my advantage. He got so cocky he completely forgot anything about stealth, and I could hear him walk around and make noise anywhere he went, which gave me the perfect chance for a counterattack.

I smiled silently to myself as I picked up a rock, and threw it into a couple of nearby bushes, right nearby my opponents feet. He freaked out and immediately fired into the bushes, but of course he hit nothing else but bush.

I smirked a bit as I crawled up behind him, putting my gun at the back of his skull. He immediately froze up, didn´t even dare to look back, but tossed his gun away and his hands into the air.

"Good game buddy" I said warmly, not trying to sound alarm "Just remember, cockiness can be fatal. Try stealthing next time"

He nodded silently and sighed as he grunted regrettably. He chuckled silently and turned around to face me, no longer seeing me as an enemy. He smiled a little and sighed silently as he looked down with a defeated expression.

"I have to admit, that was fun" He said with a smile "I hope we can face off again some time, Kirito"

"Me too Kyouta" I said with a smile "Here´s a friend request for you. And could you please give up? I don´t really think finishing off people like this is good for the health"

"Fair fight huh?" He said with a smirk "I like that. I have accepted your friend request. Let´s hang out some time, and discuss battle strategies.

He smiled a bit and pressed the give up button in his menu, a signal horn sounding in the distance to mark the defeat of Kyouta. I smiled and nodded at him as we shook hands, before both getting teleported back to the lounge area for participants.

As I arrived back at my seat in the players lounge, I sighed silently and stretched my arms lazily.

"Thank god that´s over" I mumbled silently "at least I didn´t have to kill the poor guy"

I sighed silently and looked down at the hilt of my plasma sword. It didn´t seem like I had had to take lives with this yet. Virtual or not, the thought of killing off a body still scared me. And to be honest I feared the moment I would have to use that sword for killing. I had thought that that would never be necessary ever again, but it seemed like I was wrong.

When I looked down at the sharp lines of the design of the hilt, I came to a question I had wanted to find an answer for in quite a while now. When I would finally confront Sugou, would I have the courage? Would Asuna´s presence be enough to let me finally finish him off, once and for all? Would I ever have the courage to move on?

"No, I have to" I mumbled silently as I gripped tightly around my sword hilt "If not for myself, then for my family. We can´t take much more of this fear"

I sighed silently as I clicked the sword hilt back into my belt and looked up at the various screens, each showing a specific match. As I was searching for Asuna´s however, I suddenly felt this cold sensation run down my back, like it would do whenever I had a bad feeling about something. Something big was coming up, I could feel it.

As if almost on que a dreading looking player walked through the automatic doors into the lobby. His face was obscured by a mech looking mask of some kind, and the rest of his body was covered with either normal military clothes, or his cloak. His arms up to his shoulders was wrapped in tight bandages, and the eyes in the mask was shining a bright red as he sat down nearby my seat.

He took a quick glance in my direction and I hurried to look away. Just his presence here seemed to make the atmosphere even thicker than before, and it wasn´t pleasant.

"Who the hell is that guy..?" I asked myself as I decided to shift my gaze back to the screens, leaving the creepy guy to himself.

~Deathgun´s POV~

As I stepped inside the mostly empty player´s lounge, I smirked a bit as I immediately saw my target sitting by a table by himself. I smiled silently and placed myself at a table a couple of meters away from him, glancing over at him every once in a while.

´Why is his hair so long?´ I asked myself as I glanced over at him again ´Well, it doesn´t matter. What matters is that he gets what he deserves´

I frowned slightly as I thought back at what he had done to my brother. My brother, who had been in The Laughing Coffin guild in SAO, had been killed by Kirito´s hand in battle, when him and some of the top notch guilds decided to raid the Laughing coffin headquarters. My brother and the others had known of their plan, and had set a trap for them, but sadly, three, including my brother, were still killed in the attack, and the rest imprisoned.

Somehow, I had a feeling that Kirito would put all the blame on my big brother. That since my brother had been part of The Laughing Coffin, it had been his own fault for getting killed, and that id had been justified. But my brother never knew that killing players in SAO, actually resulted in death, I´m sure of it. He had a habit of being stupidly naïve, and I couldn´t believe he would do stuff like that with bad intentions.

But now, Kirito had taken my brother from me. And I was going to get my revenge. Luckily it seemed he was going for getting into the BoB tournament later today, which gave me the perfect opportunity to kill him. I had already qualified for the tournament, so now, all I had to do was wait, for the best chance to get rid of him, once and for all.

I sighed silently after a while and payed the barman for the beer I had ordered, stood from my seat, and left.

"This is for you, big brother…"

**A/N**

**And there you guys go! That´s a wrap!**

**Hope you guys enjoyed this weeks chapter! I had a lot of fun writing it, and officially including one of the creepiest characters of all GGO to it! **

**To be honest, I have been looking forward to including Deathgun as a villain, and I have a certain twist on how the story is going to roll forward with him, so please, look forward to next week ok?**

**See you guys then! Thanks for reading, and stay awesome guys!**


	25. Chapter 25 - Final Round

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 25 – Final Round_

**A/N**

**There is a very important Author's Note I want you guys to read in the bottom, so please, check that out when you have read this, alright? Alright, on with the chapter!**

This was it. The qualifying tournament was finally coming to a close. It was the semifinals. Asuna, Sinon and myself, had all done well. Sinon was going to face off against Asuna, while I was taking on a challenge from a player named Deathgun. A dreadful name to say the least, but that wasn't going to stop me from winning this tournament. The excitement had been too strong, and I wasn't going to back down now.

I smiled a little as I began polishing the chamber of my pistol, and put my lightsaber at the nearby table as I worked. A loud airhorn suddenly sounded, announcing the end of Asuna's and Sinon's game.

I gasped slightly in surprise and looked up at the screen. To my surprise, it had seemed that Sinon had won. I stared up at the screen in shock, and looked over at the corner as it seemed like Asuna and Sinon was returning from their game. The light from their spawn soon disappeared, and revealed a slumped over Asuna and a victorious Sinon with a wide grin.

"Geez…" Asuna didn't look too pleased "You could have told me that in advance you know!"

She yelled this as she pointed an accusing finger at Sinon, who pretended she didn't know what Asuna was talking about.

"If I had told you, then I wouldn't have won!" She said with another grin as they both walked up to me.

"Hey girls" I said with a smile as I took Asuna's hand "I'll take it, it didn't go so well?"

"No…" Asuna mumbled with a pout "Sinon sniped me right away. Didn't even get close to her"

I smiled softly and placed a compensating kiss on her cheek. Her pout turned into a smile as she squeezed my hand and cuddled her body against mine.

"But I guess this is a good enough 3rd place prize" She whispered in my ear as she kissed my cheek.

I smiled silently and was about to kiss her again, but Sinon cleared her throat and smirked at us.

"Geez. Go find a love hotel or something"

I blushed dark red and pulled away from Asuna, still holding her hand as I turned to Sinon.

"S-So you just headshotted Asuna or…?" I asked softly, trying to divert the topic.

Sinon smirked at me for a moment before deciding to answer.

"No" She said with a smile "I shot right beside her, and when she turned her head to see where the shot had come from, I took her out from behind"

"That is so unfair" Asuna mumbled with a pout.

I patted her head soothingly and sighed.

"Well, I haven't had my semifinal round yet" I mumbled silently "I'm going against some player named Deathgun"

"Really?" Sinon asked with surprise "I thought your semifinal had already been settled!"

"No, it hasn't" I mumbled with a pout "Some system crash had delayed my fight"

"Well, good luck to you then" Sinon said with a smile "Us girls are going to go change. Go win the semifinal alright?"

"Got it" I said with a smile as I headed back to my table.

I sighed silently as I watched the girls walk away, smiling silently as they walked through the door of a changing room. I sighed softly as I saw Asuna's hair disappear into the room, waving after her.

"Can't believe she's still with me" I mumbled silently as I sighed again "I don't deserve her, I know I don't. And even so, with all she has been put through, she's still so loyal to me…"

I sighed silently as I saw my reflection in the newly cleaned table. I saw a face of slight sadness, a bit of anger maybe. I had become saddened at the thought of everything Asuna had been put through because of me.

Though I didn't know why Sugou was after me, and even though I still didn't know why he had pulled me into ALO over a year ago, I still felt like all the pain we both and our families and friends had gone through. I mean, why would Sugou put me through all that otherwise?

Ever since I had seen him for the first time, I had a nagging feeling that the reason for him to imprison me, and bring so much torture and pain onto us all, was because he was hit with the feeling of a need for a revenge.

Somehow, and I didn't know why, I had somehow stepped on his toes and gotten in his way. I couldn't understand how a big businessman like Sugou, and a normal gamer from the normal community, could have ever exchanged in a way for me to piss Sugou off. But I knew, that somehow, I had. And now, he was getting revenge for whatever I had done.

I growled silently as I stared at my own face.

"I don't deserve neither Asuna, nor anyone else" I mumbled silently.

My mood was gradually decreasing, spiraling downwards into a deep depression. I was at fault for Asuna's pain. I was the reason that she was now here, working her ass off to get back at Sugou and to protect her family. Her love to me, no matter how much I appreciated it, was not deserved.

Now that I thought of the two of them, it seemed like the problem resolved deeply between the two of them as well. Asuna had told me before that Sugou used to hassle her when they were left alone, but that definitely didn't explain why he was experiencing such a deep hatred towards me.

Asuna had at one point told me that her parents, mostly her mother, at one point had tried to marry her off to Sugou, but that it had utterly failed when it was revealed that it was Sugou that kept me prisoner in ALO. But that still didn't explain why he hated my guts.

I sighed silently again as those thoughts raced through my mind. I was suddenly interrupted when Asuna and Sinon came back to my table, looking at me with worried expressions.

"K-Kirito?" Sinon's usual grin was replaced by a concerned frown "You ok man?"

"Y-Yeah I'm fine girls, thanks" I mumbled silently.

Suddenly, a new airhorn sound pulsed through the area, signaling that my battle was about to start.

"W-Well, see you guys there" I mumbled silently as I began preparing myself.

I clicked my lightsaber into my belt and put my gun away as I was about to head towards the teleport area. When I was about to leave though, I felt I was being hold back by a gentle hold on my hand. When I looked back I realized it was Sinon who had grabbed onto my wrist.

"I don't know what is going on with you two yet, but" She mumbled in a hushed tone "but please, be careful, ok?"

Her sudden soft words, which was the complete opposite of the behavior of the Sinon I had known until know, took me slightly aback. I gasped a bit in surprise and looked at her with a confused expression, but found myself only able to nod as she finally let go of my wrist. I turned and walked up onto the teleport podium, peaking one last glance at the girls before getting teleported away.

As I opened my eyes again, the first thing I noticed was the mushy ground under my feet. I looked around, and saw a wide swamp-like plain, covered to the brim with large vine-filled trees and soft mushlands. I frowned silently as I took in my territory, trying to figure out a strategy.

The old and mushy trees would go for decent cover if Deathgun went offensive, but that would also be the case if I did. If he decided to take a more stealthy approach, it would either take a long time to find him, or impossible to find him all together.

I sighed silently as I sat my body down behind a tree with my back against the groiny trunk. I pulled the fresh magazine out of my gun, and stared at the top bullet.

How many people did I have to kill to get to peace?

I had tried to convince myself that that was what I was doing, but in my first battle in this qualifying tournament, I had still felt the rush. The adrenaline boost. Now, you could possibly pass that away as being simply a part of the human nature, but when I had snuck up on my opponent, put my gun at the back of his skull, I had still felt the need to just kill him, and get it out of the way.

I didn't want to be that person. The person that would kill without mercy, the person that didn't mind other people dying as long as he himself, lived. I had felt that way at the start of SAO, only holding to myself, and not caring if others around me died. Luckily, I had suppressed that way of thinking when I joined the Midnight Black Cats, but the pain of Sugou's torture seemed to have brought it back.

I thought back to Sachi. To the locket she had sent me a couple of months ago, as part of her last will. Ever since then, I had found myself wearing that locket every day, hidden away under my shirt. I didn't want Asuna to know, but I missed her, a lot. And I couldn't bear the thought of never seeing her again.

She had put her faith in me. She had become my responsibility. And I had failed to protect her, and the promise I made to her. I wasn't good enough. Would I be good enough to take down Sugou, and finally relieve my family of their pain?

As my train of thoughts ran on and on, I suddenly heard a loud snap from somewhere behind the tree I was sitting by, like a thick branch being snapped in half. I gasped slightly in surprise and looked behind the trunk of the tree, scouting for any possible opponents.

As I scouted though, I froze up in fear as I suddenly felt something, thin, hard and cold, pressed against the back of my head. Impossible. How did he do that!?

I didn't even dare to look back at him, but I could tell that he enjoyed my suffering. He casted his arm outwards in a dramatic expression and chuckled silently.

"So long, Kazuto Kirigaya"

I widened my eyes a bit. This guy knows who I am? In the real world!? Who the hell was he!?

As I heard my name being called, I looked back to get a glimpse of my attacker. To my big surprise, it was the same player from before, the weird mech-masked creeper who had sat not far away from me in the player lobby. But how the hell had he crept up on me like that!?

I didn´t get an answer, but instead a bullet to the forehead, and my vision went blurry and black. I felt my body fall to the ground lifelessly, and soon I could feel my body make contact with the ground, my hair getting ruffed out and full of dirt as my consciousness left my avatar, and went back to the player lobby. Somewhere in the distance I could hear a horn. The battle was over.

~Deathgun´s POV~

I chuckled silently as I watched Kazuto's body fall to the ground helplessly, my own bullet in-between his eyes. That felt so satisfying. I smirked silently as I put my gun back where it belonged. I sighed silently as I watched the sky for a moment.

"Too bad my assistant is too busy today" I mumbled silently "He would have been able to poison Kazuto today and get it over with"

I smirked a bit and chuckled softly as I thought about my sweet revenge against the bastard who killed my brother.

"Don't worry big brother" I said with a smirk "The legacy of Red XaXa… No, of Deathgun, will surely not die. I'll make sure of that"

I smiled silently and looked up at the moon in the sky as I began feeling I was getting teleported.

"Hope you're ready Kazuto" I mumbled silently "Cause I am coming for you. And I'm going to kill you in cold blood"

I smiled a bit at the thought as I was teleported back to the player lobby, urging to avenge my brother.

~Kazuto's POV~

I groaned regretfully as I suddenly woke up in a seat beside the girls in the player lobby.

"H-Huh!?" I mumbled silently as I looked around in confusion "Oh, right. I was killed by Deathgun, and…"

Sinon looked at me with a sympathetic smile and clapped my shoulder.

"It's ok" She said with a smile "Everyone loses sometimes. And cheer up, you're still in the tournament you know"

"R-Really!?" I asked in surprise. Sinon smirked and replied.

"Yup" She said with a smile "Every year, the BoB tournament is held. Along with it, 12 qualifying rounds is held, where all the semifinalists and beyond gets to qualify to the main tournament"

"Oh, so that's 48 participants in total" I mumbled silently as I watched the screen "You better look out for this guy Sinon. He's really OP"

"Nah, I know I can take him" She said with a smirk "I saw your battle Kazuto. That cloak he was wearing is an invincibility cloak. He snuck up on you with that"

"What!?" I looked at her in disbelief "No wonder I couldn't see him anywhere! I thought maybe he was hiding in the swamplands!"

"Nope" She said with a smile "But there's no need for you to worry now. He's my problem now. And that 50.000 prize is mine!"

"Well, you better kick his ass then" I said as I ruffled her hair "Go. Your battle is starting!"

"Hey, I'm not a kid!" She yelled with a pout as she took off, and fixed her hair in the process.

She stood on the the teleport platform and flashed us a peace sign and a smirk, before disappearing in the ray of light. I sighed silently and looked down at the table with a worried expression. The fact that someone I didn't know knew me, worried me a bit.

"Hey, Kirito?" Asuna suddenly shook me by the shoulder and I looked at her surprised "Are you ok?"

I sighed silently and shook my head.

"That guy, Deathgun, knew who I was" I mumbled silently "He knows my name, my identity. He knows who I am"

"W-What!?" Asuna gasped in surprise and tightened her grip on my shoulder "W-What does that mean?"

"Well, it could be innocent and be one of our friends," I mumbled as I wondered the options "but that is highly unlikely. If it was, he or she would have revealed who they were"

"M-Maybe it's just a prank or something" Asuna mumbled silently.

"No, I don't think so. They all know the importance of this. They wouldn't be so cruel"

"Yeah, you're right" Asuna mumbled with a frown "Then the biggest possibility is that this Deathgun, is working for Sugou, and he has somehow found out that we're here"

"Well, since we've both participated in the tournament, and asked around so much, it's only natural that the news of new players would spread quickly"

"That might be true, but, we don't know if he really does work for Sugou yet. It's only a suspicion at this point, so let's be careful, ok?"

"Right. I just hope he isn't dangerous. It would take our minds off the mission"

"Yeah, I know"

I sighed silently as I looked up at the screen. The battle was already well underway, with both players running towards the center of the map.

"Be careful Sinon" I whispered to myself as I watched the battle rage on.

~Sinon's POV~

I opened my eyes and smiled silently as I watched the wasteland. Perfect. No buildings, no shrubberies, nowhere to run and hide. Since I knew that Deathgun was going to use his invincibility cloak, I was planning to let myself out in the open. When he was in reach, I would use one of my old skills, which I had been storing for such an occasion as this. Just too bad, it was only a one time use.

"Hehe, he isn´t winning this duel" I mumbled with a smirk "Not easily at least"

I smiled a little to myself as I began running down a nearby crumbled down highway, abandoned cars and other vehicles was scattered left and right. This stage was meant to seem like it had fallen under world war three, or something taken directly from a zombie flick, and the creators of the game had done well. It was extremely immersive, and I always loved every second I spent in this game.

This game had come to serve as a sort of trauma rehabilitation for me. Ever since I experienced that bank robbery when I was little, I had been terrified of even approach any kind of gun, whether it be pistol, sniper rifle or any other gun.

But in here, I was free to do what I wanted. I no longer had any fear for guns in here. I could do whatever I wanted!

I ran up along the highway, and as I did, I suddenly felt my opponents presence nearby, and I knew that my skill had activated. I smirked silently as I looked a bit down the highway, and saw a holographic figure of Deathgun calmly walk towards me. I smirked wider and drew my gun, shooting him quickly in the knee and a couple of times in the cloak, so it's invincibility wore off.

He gasped a bit in surprise and pain as he dropped onto one knee, staring up at me in disbelief.

"H-How?"

I smirked silently as I kept walking. Eventually, I was only about 10 feet from him, and I stopped as I watched him.

"Rare detection skill" I stated silently "Not many people have it, and sadly it's only for one use, but it seemed like it came in handy in this case"

I chuckled softly as I watched my opponent insecurely topple back onto his feet. We stood there for a movement, studying each other's way of standing, and each little movement our opponent might make.

'Let´s finish this' I thought to myself.

A gust of wind drew by, and everything became silence as we stared each other down, waiting for the other one to make a move.

This was it.

**A/N**

**Hey guys! Hope you guys liked the latest chapter!**

**I actually have a bit of news for you guys, so please, listen up.**

**Since I am finishing tenth grade in ground school in about 6 months, I have started to wonder what I'm going to do with my own future, like which high school do I want to attend to, how do I get there, which classes should I attend, and etc. Because of my preparing, I might lay off my fanfiction for a while.**

**Now I'm not saying that I won't be uploading, hell no. I enjoy what I do, and I enjoy getting positive reviews from you guys. **

**But what I'm trying to say here, is that, I might not be able to upload on a regular schedule for a while. I have too much going on right now, and I think what I want to do with my future is more important than this right now, so pardon me if I accidentally upload on a Monday instead of a Sunday or something. **

**On top of that, I still have that Tumblr page to think about, so that's a big part of it too. All I wanted to say with this ramble, is that I might be busy for quite a while, but I will still try to upload as planned and as regular as humanly possible.**

**Thank you guys for reading this, and hopefully, I will see you guys in time, next week.**

**Have an awesome week!**


	26. Chapter 26 - The Truth

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 26 – The Truth_

~Sinon's POV~

As me and Deathgun had starred at each other for a moment, it almost felt like time stood still. The gusts of wind was picking up, and dust was sent flying everywhere, obscuring both of our visions. This was to my advantage though, since I would gain a bit more stealth that way.

As a particularly strong dust cloud was picked up, I smirked a bit as I used my dash skill to dash out of Deathgun's line of sight. I dove behind an abandoned sports car, and pulled out my sniper, my trustworthy Hecate II. I smirked confidently as I looked through a window of the car.

Deathgun's behavior was strange. As the dust cloud lifted, he didn't even flinch of surprise. He just stood there and starred for a moment. Just starred. He chuckled slightly and pulled his pistol. I widened my eyes as I saw it.

It was the same kind of Black Star Pistol that had been used at the bank robbery when I was little. I could feel my muscles tense up from fear, and I had problems breathing. I could feel my body physically lock up, and I couldn't move.

I growled silently as I gritted my teeth, holding onto the sports car as I tried to get my body under control. I tried to calm myself down, and I gripped tightly at my shirt.

"Why does he have that gun!?"

All my confidence from before was gone. I felt like a weak and scared girl again. All that I had been through hadn't helped jack. My rehabilitation hadn't helped, and even in here, I froze up in fear whenever I would see that horrible gun.

I could slowly feel the knob in my chest loosen, and my breath slowed down a bit. I took a glance over the sports car, and I growled silently as I realized he was gone.

"Dammit!"

I sighed silently as I got out from my hiding spot.

"Damn" I mumbled again as I checked my minimap "He's long gone. It's outside the minimap radar"

I sighed silently and pulled my pistol from my belt, looking at my reflection in the handle.

"I can't believe I'm still so scared of that gun" I mumbled regretfully "It's been more than 10 years dammit!"

I growled silently, one moment thinking about throwing the gun away and giving up on this whole thing. But I knew that if I did that, I would never be able to overcome my trauma. I sighed silently and patted the space over my gun.

"I want you guys to help me again" I said with a sigh and a smile, as I took off along the highway.

~Kazuto's POV~

I frowned silently as I stared up at the screen in worry. It had seemed that something had scared Sinon to the brink of collapse, but what? She just took a glance at the guy and began freaking out.

Maybe she had realized something they hadn't?

I frowned deeper as I focused a bit harsher on Deathgun's side of the screen. He was currently jumping from car to car to get some decent cover and try to stay out of Sinon's line of sight. She was closing in on him though, whether either of them knew it or not.

It was then that I realized that I didn't know how much was at stake here. I wondered silently to myself. To anyone else, it would seem that this was a regular entrance tournament finale. Nothing particularly odd seemed to be at present here.

But to me, something seemed to be out of place. I couldn't quite think of what it was, but it felt like something deeper was happening here. Maybe Sinon had a personal relation to this guy? Or something else was happening?

I groaned a bit and threw my hands in the air as I collapsed my upper body onto our table. Asuna looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Kirito, would you calm down?"

I looked up at her with a pout.

"Why?"

"People are watching us you know"

"Huh!?"

I looked around me to both sides. It was true, people was really watching me with weird expressions or silent glares. I sweatdropped a bit and hid my face with my arms.

"Im sowwy"

"Aww don't be silly" Asuna said with a giggle as she scooted closer to me "You're adorable anyway"

"S-Stop, it's my job to embarrass you, not the other way around!"

She giggled a bit and continued.

"Not today it ain't!"

She giggled a bit and bumped into me playfully. I smiled a little and bumped back.

"Stop it you" I mumbled as I kissed her cheek "This is kind of the wrong place to get cuddly"

"Aww, but I'm lonely" Asuna mumbled with a pout "Pweeeaase!?"

"Oh alright" I said with a laugh as I wrapped an arm around her waist "How can I say no to such an adorable face?"

"Yay!"

She giggled loudly and cuddled into me, and I smiled widely and chuckled as I wrapped both my arms around her waist. She cuddled her face into the crook of my neck and I smiled softly as I kissed her scalp.

"You're so adorable" I mumbled silently, and she giggled.

"you too hun" She mumbled with a small yawn as she leaned against me.

I chuckled a bit and kissed her cheek softly as I pulled her closer.

As she relaxed against my shoulders, I looked up at the battle screen again. It seems Sinon had been caught in a gunfight with her opponent in a cross section on the highway. I could see that she was struggling to keep up.

"Come on Sinon" I mumbled silently "Hand him his own ass"

Asuna looked up from my chest and looked up at the screen worried.

"Do you think she´s ok Kirito?"

"I don´t know, I hope so"

I frowned a bit as Sinon was hit in the shoulder. She staggered back and clutched at her bullet wound, before diving behind a car.

"Damn…"

I didn´t know why, but I felt an intense feeling of worry. I had only met the girl today, but still, I saw her as a friend. And even though she wouldn´t be kicked out of the tournament if she lost, I still felt like something horrible would happen if she lost.

I just had a really bad feeling about that guy, Deathgun, I guess. He seemed to be off somehow. He seemed like a threat somehow. Just the fact that he had revealed he knew of my identity, but decided to keep his own secret, was extremely unsettling.

I sighed silently as I looked away from the screen.

"We just have to trust her I guess"

~Sinon´s POV~

I groaned silently as I duck behind a nearby car. The dust and wind was picking up again, obscuring the battlefield again, which gave me another chance to collect myself and prepare myself for the next wave of attacks.

"Damn he´s fast" I mumbled silently as I reloaded my gun "And I´m down to my last magazine"

I looked at my sniper rifle. If I ran dry of ammo for my pistol, my sniper rifle would be my last line of defense. I sighed silently as I picked it off the ground and looked at the Hecate II logo on the refined metal. I ran my fingers across it, a wave of sentimentality running over me.

"I don´t think you can protect me this time old friend" I said with a sigh as I tucked the gun back over my shoulder "Let´s get this over with"

I looked around the corner of the wall I was sitting by. He was gone. Perfect. I smiled a little as I rolled out of my hiding spot and got to my feet, running towards a nearby car. As soon as I began running, a salvage of bullets shot against me, left and right. I ducked and dodged as much as I could, before sliding behind the car.

"Dammit all" I mumbled silently as I took a glance over the car roof.

His shots had appeared to come from inside the dust cloud. How in the hell could he see anything!? There was dust and rubble everywhere!

"I have no choice. I have to go aggressive" I mumbled with a sigh "I can´t dodge and hide forever. I'll be a sitting target!"

I growled silently. It all came down to this. I closed my eyes shut and took a few deep breaths to calm myself down. I took a final breath and held it, before charging out of my hiding spot full speed.

"Raaaghh!"

I screamed at the top of my lounges. Maybe to intimidate, maybe to raise my own spirits. I screamed again as I ran straight through the dust and rubble, the wind picking up stones that hit against my face.

I widened my eyes as the preemptive lines appeared and I dodged left and right, left and right, the wind of the bullets whistling just aside my head and body. I gasped a bit for each bullet, but stayed focused and sprinted forward. As I began seeing Deathgun´s silhouette in the dust, I took aim and pulled my trigger, my own bullet´s whistling towards him.

"Take this you asswipe!"

I screamed at the top of my longues, hitting him several times in the shoulders and his gut. He collapsed to his knees, but when I was about to finish him off, I ran out of bullets in my pistol.

"Shit!"

I was only a few feet away from him now. I widened my eyes as he pulled his gun.

"Fuck!" I dodged again and jumped, spiraling over him in a screw. I smirked a bit as time seemed to slow down to slow motion. I pulled my sniper off my back, took aim and pulled the trigger…

It hit him right between the eyes.

I grunted a bit as I landed onto my back on the ground. I picked myself up and smirked a bit as I watched Deathgun´s body collapse onto his stomach, and the red "Dead" message hovering over his body. I panted a little and smiled as I put my sniper onto my shoulder confidently and victorious.

"Noscope, bitch!"

I smirked a bit and raised my fist in the air victorious as the airhorn sounded, and I was teleported back to the tournament rest area.

As I spawned back at the rest area, I opened up my menu. I smirked a bit as I saw a message scroll over it.

"Congratulations for winning the BoB entrance tournament. Your prizes have been added to your bank and inventory, which include…"

I smiled a bit as I went over the list of rewards. I had received several weapon attachments for machine guns and snipers, as well as 50.000 for my bank.

"Damn, I didn´t know winning the tournament gave this much" I mumbled in surprise.

I looked down at the list in surprise, but I was interrupted as Yuuki and Kirito ran up to me with excited expressions.

"Sinon! That was glorious!"

I smiled a little as I hugged them both close in a friendly group hug.

"You were so cool Sinon!" Asuna squealed loudly "that was one hell of a finishing move! If I didn´t know better, I would think it was a skill in the game or something!"

I chuckled nervously of the sudden praise. I wasn´t used to get put in the spotlight like that.

"Hehe, I guess it was a lucky shot or something" I mumbled with a smile.

"A lucky shot!?" Kirito looked at me with wonder "Don´t make me laugh! You owned that battle!"

"Thanks guys" I said with a smile "but the battle is far from over. We still have the main tournament to ready ourselves for"

"That´s very true" Kirito mumbled "And since Deathgun was a finalist in this tournament, he´s going to be competing too"

"Yeah" Yuuki mumbled with a sigh "He´s a powerful opponent. Plus, since he lost to Sinon in this tournament, he will probably focus a bit more on her and her strong and weak points"

"I guess that makes sense" I mumbled as I put my hands on my hips in thought "Well, enough about that. You guys promised me that you would tell me who you are if I won. Spill it out already"

Yuuki and Kirito looked at each other with a worried expression for a bit. I guess they asked each other if they should trust me or not without words. Their doubt turned into resolve and determination as they nodded at each other, and turned towards me with serious expressions.

"Alright, we´ll tell you" Kirito said with a serious frown "But you have to promise you will tell absolutely no one. Do you understand?"

I was taken quite aback by the suddenly dead serious tone in the conversation. This caused me to get more serious, and I frowned silently as I nodded in understanding.

"Good, let me tell you everything then"

Yuuki and Kirito continued to explain the whole reason they were here. From what Yuuki´s actual name was, which was Asuna, to how they had been mauled up into this mess. How they had been taken into SAO about 3 years earlier, and how Kirito had fought the last boss desperately to get his friends and girlfriend out.

They told me about how Kazuto, which was his real name, had been pulled into ALO somehow after clearing SAO, and how this psychopath had tortured him for months for reasons that was still unknown. They also told me everything about the following year, and how this bastard had been stalking them both and inflicting painful torture onto Kazuto to get into both their minds.

And finally they told me the reason they were here in GGO. They had gone in here because they had received a tip that the psychopath had fled from the authorities into the game, and that Kazuto had been asked to get him back out so he could be put behind bars.

I looked at them both in disbelief. It was a lot of information to take in all at once. I put a hand to my head and sighed silently from mindly exhaustion, unable to process all that information in the matter of seconds.

"Sounds like you guys have been through a lot" I mumbled with a worried expression "that also explains why you both have acted so nervous"

"Yeah, exactly" Kazuto said with an angry huff "Now we´re entering the tournament, so we can lure Sugou out and get things over with"

"That sounds like a pretty unstable plan to me" I mumbled as I led them over to a table so we could sit down "I mean, there's no guarantee he will show up if you "merchandise" yourself like that"

"We know" Asuna mumbled with a frustrated sigh "But it's the best plan we have. We can't keep asking around forever, and we certainly won't find by just searching for him. That would be virtually impossible"

"Yeah I can see what you mean" I mumbled silently "Guess it's a good thing you're both guaranteed a spot in the tournament huh?"

"Yeah, you bet" Kazuto mumbled as he called for a waiter "Could you help us? We'd be eternally grateful id you did"

"Well, I can always tell you how the tournament works" I mumbled as Kazuto paid for some soda's for us "But I don't want to be involved too much in this. This is much worse than I imagined after all"

"We understand that too" Kazuto mumbled with a sigh "We kind of don't want to involve anyone else either. That's why we wanted to keep it secret from you"

"I understand" I mumbled as I took a sip of my drink and put it back onto the table "Well, let me tell you about the BoB tournament"

~Deathgun's POV~

I growled silently as I watched the scene. I couldn't believe it, and I didn't understand how, but somehow they had pulled Sinon, my beloved Shino, into their plans.

"Damn you Kazuto!" I growled in rage "you bastard! You're taking everything from me!"

I sighed silently as I pulled myself back into hiding, not wanting them to see me.

"Guess there's another reason to kill that bastard" I mumbled silently "And I'll show you Shino. When you see how powerful I am, you'll forget everything about that jerk in no time at all"

"Hmph, sounds like a good idea to me!"

I widened my eyes and spun around. Weird, I thought I had heard a voice. I looked around me again, but no one was there.

"Do you want revenge?"

There it was again.

"Who are you!?" I snapped as I pulled my gun "You know you can't hurt me in a safe zone"

Suddenly a man stepped out from the shadows. He was tall. He seemed really athletic as well, his muscles showing through his clothes. He had long dark brown hair that reached towards his lower back, and heavy military gear with a higher level I had ever seen. And this smirk on his face, and the glint in his eyes. It was clear that this guy meant danger.

"Relax, I am not here to hurt you" He said with a sadistic chuckle "Actually, I'm here to help you"

"With what!?" I growled silently, pointing my gun at him "What could you possibly help me with!?"

"Well, first of all, I could get you better gear" he said with a smirk "Second of all, I could lend you power that would ensure the death of Kazuto Kirigaya"

"Huh?! You know that bastard too!?"

I looked at him surprised. I didn't know that Kazuto had other enemies, though the concept didn't exactly surprise me.

"Don't worry my friend" He said as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders like we were bst friends "I sense that a strong partnership is sprouting"

And with this he pulled me into a nearby alleyway and out of Kazuto's and the other's sight.

**A/N**

**Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Damn, even though the power of writers block hit me full force this time, I still managed to upload this in time. Hallelujah.**

**Actually I have a request for you guys.**

**I know I'm being a bit selfish here, but I would like you guys to leave more reviews.**

**I know, I know, I'm a greedy bastard, but hear me out for a second.**

**Two or three every week telling me that I am doing a good job is good and all, and I truly appreciate this. **

**BUT!**

**It doesn't say anything about interesting plot points I could come up with.**

**It helps me immensely motivatively and I'm happy you guys even consider leaving anything at all, but I would also like if you guys could come up with something, and send me ideas. That way, I gain a more deepened way of communicating with you guys, and with that I create a community where I can talk and have fun with my fanbase.**

**I want to reach out to you guys and be your friend. If you guys help me with this fanfic, I can do that much better.**

**So would you please consider leaving an idea or two? It would be greatly appreciated and I will be sure to make shoutouts if I decide to use your idea.**

**That´s all. If you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review. It helps me a lot.**

**Again, thank you guys for reading, and have an amazing week!**


	27. Chapter 27 - Gearing Up

_Sword Art Online_

_After The incident_

_Chapter 27 – Gearing Up_

~Deathgun's POV~

I frowned a bit and gripped at my pistol in suspicion as I followed after the stranger that had suddenly appeared in front of me.

I had heard before that people would bring their victims into alleys or something, and then threaten to kill them over and over again if you didn't give up your items, so I needed to be careful. After all, I didn't know the guy, so there was no telling what he might do.

That, and he had this crazy look in his eyes. I couldn't quite explain it, but there was always this unsettling feeling whenever he would even take a glance back at me. Just his presence in general made me extremely nervous at my feet.

Normally, when I was Deathgun, I was usually the one to inflict fear and nervousness upon my enemies and opponents with MY presence, and I enjoyed that. But this was something new. The roles had completely changed, and now I was the target.

I looked around me as we passed building after building, and street after street. I was beginning to wonder how long this was going to take, when the guy finally turned a corner and disappeared into a nearby building. I gripped a bit tighter around my Black Star Pistol, before following him inside.

When the door closed behind me, everything around me was pitch black. I couldn't see a hand in front of me, even when I tried to focus my vision as best I could.

Suddenly, several bright lights turned on above us, and I shielded my eyes from the sudden harsh light. When my eyes got used to the intense light, they widened in amazement as I saw the contents of the walls in the room.

There was enough weapons lined up neatly on the shelves for a small army! Several machine guns, snipers, shotguns, you name it, was neatly polished and placed on top of a glass shelf, several lights hanging over each weapon to promote it in an almost professional looking way.

Every last weapon was neatly polished and groomed up, the whole room looking like some rich guy's huge weapon collection.

"What the hell is this?!" I mumbled in shock.

The guy who had lead me here chuckled silently and pushed his sunglasses back into place on his long nose.

"This is my private collection" He said with a smirk "All the weapons you see here are weapons that only the greatest players can wield"

"How the hell did you get your hands on these?" I mumbled in amazement as I let my hand run across the metal of one of the sniper rifles "I haven't even heard of some of these weapons"

"In the real world, I am filthy rich" He said with a self-confident smile "If you promise me you kill Kazuto Kirigaya, all of these weapons could become yours"

"W-What!? You're giving all of this stuff away!?"

"As I said, I'm filthy rich" He said with another smile "And, I have powerful connections. I can get all of this again within a week"

"Damn, I want to be you right now" I mumbled silently as I picked up a new model of sniper "Is this the Hecate III!?"

"I believe so yes" He said with a smirk "If you have a great enough speed stat, you should be able to fire at least five bullets with this within a few seconds"

"A-Amazing! I have never heard of such power!"

I smirked a bit as I aimed through the sight of the rifle and aimed at the opposite wall of me.

"The record of hitting someone with this is about 7 kilometers"

"What!? 7!?"

I could barely believe my own ears. I had never heard about someone hitting from that distance.

"And you can use it in the tournament if you want" he said with a smile "All these upgrades should make sure to give you a big advantage"

I stared down at the sniper in my hands. With this, I could easily win over Kazuto and the rest of the competition, and finally get rid of him forever. And I would finally be able to show Shino how strong I had become.

It seemed too good to be true though, and I looked over at the guy with suspicion.

"Alright, this all sounds pretty good. What's the catch?"

"No catch my friend. I just want you to kill that bastard to Kirigaya!"

"H-How do you even know that guy?"

"Our history go back several years" The guy mumbled with an elegant flick of his hair "Let's just say that he stood in my way. And the people who do that, will experience pain like no other they have ever experienced before"

I gulped slightly at him. He scared me a bit, but at the same time, we shared the same goal.

"How does me killing him in GGO help you in any way? I mean, he doesn't die in real life just because I kill him in here"

"Well, I'm sorry to say but…" he started as he walked over to a gun podium "I have been watching you. You seemed like a reliable servant, with the qualities I search for. So I have been overlooking you. And I have also learned you have the sources to get rid of the people that stand in your way for good"

He had been watching me?!

"Alright, so what do you get out of him dead?"

"Vengeance. And a huge money opportunity"

"Money opportunity? How?"

"Well, my friend, let me tell you something" He said with a smirk "Have you ever felt lust before? An incredible desire to take what you believe is rightfully yours?"

I felt a trickle of sweat run down my face as I watched him. I had to admit, I had had strong desires when it came to being together with my crush, Shino. But I had not reached the point where I would forcefully take her for myself. At least not yet.

"I-I guess"

"Then let me hear this" He mumbled "Do you know that he is currently madly in love with a girl, Asuna Yuuki?"

"Yeah, I do" I mumbled "I know he's with her, but I don't know much about her herself"

"Then let me tell you something. Before he entered the picture, she was MY promised fiancé. Though I didn't want to marry her because I loved her, I simply wanted to marry her because it was a good investment"

A good investment!? His ideas and ideals didn't quite suit or fit with me, but I stayed quiet to let him finish.

"You see, her parents, and the Yuuki family as a whole, is a very rich family. When I had become Asuna's husband, I would be able to make even more powerful connections and investment opportunities from within the family, and by that increasing my own income and value exponentially"

He grabbed a glass and a bottle of fancy wine from a shelf nearby, and took a sip.

"Therefore my boy, that is the reason Kirigaya must be eliminated. With him gone, I can finally begin forcing myself back into the circles of the Yuuki family, and have a new opportunity of gaining more power"

I looked at him for a moment before I spoke up.

"I can't quite say my ideals is the same as yours," I mumbled with a frown "but I don't care about you and Ms. Yuuki's personal problems. I only have my grudge against Kazuto, nothing else"

"Straight to the point huh?" He mumbled with a smirk "I like that. Ok, let me gear you up"

He smiled a bit as he walked over to a section of shelves.

"Alright my boy, which kind of character do you have?" He asked with a smile.

"I am heavily AGI focused"

"Alright, then you'll need light weapons"

He smirked confidently as he picked a pistol off the ground, and a belt with grenades and other utilities.

"If you use these," He said with a smirk "you'll be invincible. Just make sure to get that fucker killed"

"There's just one thing" I frowned silently "Who are you?"

"That doesn't matter" He said with a widening smirk "just think of me as a sponsor. An anonymous sponsor, like in Hunger Games"

"Huh? Hunger Games?"

"Just forget it" He mumbled with a sigh, turning around and muttered something to himself "That was a great movie…"

"Let's just get on with this" I mumbled impatiently.

"Alright, alright" He mumbled with a sigh "Get out there, train your stat points, and get ready for the tournament. I'd like to see you as the winner"

"Yes sir" I nodded silently.

I accepted the trade weapons he had send me, and turned on my heel, before walking out the door.

"I'm coming for you Kazuto…"

~Kirito's POV~

I smiled a bit as Asuna, Sinon and I walked out of rest area of the arena, and out onto the buzzling street. As soon as I stepped outside, the harsh smell of gunpowder and oil hit my nose, a smell I had quickly learned to associate with the game.

I smiled a bit as I looked back at the girls.

"Alright, so, what is our next move?"

"Well," Sinon said with a smile "The next thing we should do, is go grind some monsters in the wild"

"Wait, you can do that in this game?" I mumbled in surprise "I thought this game was a FPS tournament game"

"Well actually" Asuna said with a smirk "I read through the manual, and it turns out, that this game is an FPS game mixed in with MMO assets"

"So we can go grind monster!?"

"Yes we can" Sinon said with a smirk "If we grind enough, we'll be able to get enough experience to be a challenge in the tournament. And we might get enough money from the drops to buy new weapons"

"That sounds like a plan" I said with a smirk "So, what kind of monsters are in this game?"

"Well, mostly soldiers and mercenaries" Sinon said with a smile "Though sometimes, bandit camps and bases spawn, which contains monsters that grants tons of experience"

"That sounds awesome" I said enthusiastically "Is there a base spawn scheduled today?"

"Several" Sinon said as she scrolled through her inventory "But the closest one is about 3 kilometers to the west of here, near the seashore"

"Alright" Asuna said as she stretched her arms "Let's go kill some mercenaries. Maybe I should buy a bikini"

"Please do" I said with a smirk.

I immediately regretted my words as I was hit several times in the head.

"Aow, aow! Stop!"

"If you don't want a bullet in the forehead" Asuna mumbled with a glare "You shut up, now!"

"Ok, ok, it was a joke seriously!"

I stepped backwards from the unsettling glares from the girls, who both threateningly reloaded their weapons to scare me for my joke. I put my hands in front of me defensively and sighed.

"Just calm down girls, calm down" I said with an apologetic smile "We need to get going, right?"

"Nah, we're not that late" Sinon said with a smile as she showed me the clock on her menu "There's still two hours until the spawn"

"Oh good"

"But…"

I was taken slightly aback, and looked back at Sinon after turning away from her to walk down the street.

"buuut?"

"We still need to be careful. There's players out there who raid other people for their items"

"Oh, so it's SAO's Laughing Coffin all over again huh?"

"Who's Laughing Coffin?"

"Never mind" I mumbled with a sigh "If we have that much time, let's go get some rest before setting out. We have to be well rested"

"I guess that makes sense" Asuna said with a sweet smile "Alright, let's get out of the game for the moment, and get some rest"

"Alright" Sinon said with another smile "Please, meet me at the western city gate when you come back, alright?"

"Aren't you going to log out Sinon?" Asuna asked concerned as she stepped up to her.

"Nah, it's ok" Sinon said with a smile "I don't feel that tired, and I have to go spend my new prize money. Go ahead and log out alright?"

"Uhm sure, if you say so" Asuna mumbled with a worried expression "We're back in an hour or so, alright?"

"Alright, see you soon"

I smiled a bit and opened my menu, taking my girlfriend's hand as we both pushed the log out button together. We waved softly at Sinon as the light engulfed us, and she smiled and waved back as the world around us disappeared, our virtual bodies slowly dissipating.

~Sinon's POV~

As the others disappeared in the log out light, I sighed silently as I looked down at my hand. It twitched slightly. Probably from the sorrow that was slowly rising in my chest. Why would I log out if I didn't need food or sleep? I basically had no reason to go back to the real world.

I guess Kyoji Shinkawa always was one, since he was one of the only people who had supported me through my trauma ever since I was little but, I knew that he was currently at work and didn't have time to see me. And besides him, I didn't really have anyone to visit.

I didn't have much family either. I only had my mother, and even she wasn't worth much. Since she had been subjected to the terrifying situation of seeing her daughter having a pistol pressed to her forehead, her sanity had snapped. Ever since it happened, she had been on the hospital, receiving mental health help.

Ever since she was taken in, I had been placed in a care family. When I turned 16, I moved out and into my own apartment to cope with my own problems and sadness. I had thought that was the best. I wanted to deal with my own problems. I just wanted to be left alone.

Though I could always visit my mom, she would barely ever recognize me when I did. So, if I went back to the real world, I would only return to an empty apartment, all by myself.

Now that I thought about it, I had been a fool to want to be by myself. If you have problems, you should depend on your friends and family to let them help you. Though my care family had never really tried to understand me and my problems. They were never the most reliable people.

I sighed silently as I walked down the street. Right now, I was alone again, but I had several online friends I could always meet up with. It wasn't that big of a deal.

I smiled a bit as I saw a group of the said friends around a table by a bar, and I decided to walk over and say hello.

Geez. The problems some people have to go through.

~Asuna's POV~

I sighed silently and pulled my VR helmet off of my head. I winched slightly and put a hand over my eyes to shield them from the harsh light above us, sitting up slowly as I looked over at Kazuto's bed. He had already gotten himself disconnected from the heart monitors and IV's he had been connected to, and now stood by the window, staring out as he held a sandwich in his right hand.

I smiled a bit and stepped up behind him, kissing his cheek as I wrapped my arms around his waist.

"What are you thinking about love?" I whispered into his ear.

I could feel heat radiate off his cheeks and he blushed a bit as he looked back at me.

"Oh, hey Asuna" He said with a smile "Just worried is all"

"Yeah, I know" I mumbled as I stepped up beside him "We don't know what he's capable of after all"

"Exactly"

"Just focus on coming back to your family, ok?" I say as I snuck my hand into his "You'll be so focused that you forget about your fear and worry"

"Huh? Are you sure?"

"It works for me" I said with an approving smile.

He nodded softly and sighed.

"I guess I'll take it for what it is…"

We didn't manage to talk much privately. Suddenly, both of our families barged in, worriedly flocking around us, busy to hug us and show how much they worried for us.

"Guys, how is it going?" Sugu asked worriedly "Are you doing ok?"

"Well, we're currently working to flush Sugou out" I mumbled with a frown "We're trying to make him come out of hiding by entering the BoB tournament"

"Huh? BoB tournament?" My mother asked, interested.

We proceeded to explain everything that had happened the same morning and afternoon. We even told them how we had lost in the qualifying tournament, and how Kazuto had stumbled across a player that apparently knew of his identity. This news was of course extremely unsettling for Kazuto's family.

"I don't like it Kazuto" His aunt shifted around nervously "He could be an enemy of some sort. I don't like the thought that you guys are going back in there"

"Mom, you know I have to do this" Kazuto mumbled with a serious expression "I really wish it was different, but I have no choice"

"I know Kazuto, it's just…"

She sat down on his hospital bed in worry.

"I just have a really bad feeling"

He sat down beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders in a comforting and protective way.

"I know. Don't worry about me ok?" He mumbled softly "I survived SAO, I can survive this too"

"You're right" She mumbled with a sigh "Just make sure he suffers as much as you have"

She was angry. I was too, but something underneath showed intense hatred.

Kazuto mumbled soft and encouraging words to his mother in an attempt to calm her down.

I decided I wanted to spend some time with my family in the hour we had, before we had to go back into GGO.

In about a week, we would enter GGO's BoB tournament. We had to be prepared by then.

We had to.

**A/N **

**Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**I actually didn't have that much work to do this week, so I managed to complete this chapter a day in advance of schedule! Yay!**

**Hope you enjoyed this week's chapter, and see you next time.**


	28. Chapter 28 - The Iron Eagle

Sword Art Online

After The Incident

Chapter 28 – The Iron Eagle

~Kirito's POV~

I smiled a bit as the girls and I ducked behind a sand dune near the enemy base. I took a peek over the sand dune, taking a look at what we were up against.

I widened my eyes at the sight. The main building stood in the middle, with at least 3 meters thick and 10 meters tall walls surrounding it from all sides. All around the base along the walls, guard towers were put, where there was at least 3 or 4 men in each tower, each guard carrying a sniper or a machine gun.

The top of the wall was decorated with barbed wire and giant spotlights, making sure to spot any intruder the moment an attack began.

In the main courtyard, battalion after battalion of soldier NPC's ran around and did whatever they were programmed to do, some of the squads even holding robotic hounds, their metallic bodies shining brightly from the sunlight, their teeth looking sharp and ready to kill.

By the entrance, 2 much larger than normal NPC's stood, wielding heavy weapons such as gatling guns or grenade launchers. It was clear to me that these two had been focused mainly on strength more than anything else.

I gulped silently and took a confused and panicking expression at Sinon.

"I thought you said this was going to be easy!" I mumbled in a huffed panic.

"It is one of the easy ones" She said with a smirk "Come on, you'll be fine. If you just keep your cool, we should be able to clear it, just the 3 of us"

"This is insane, you know that right?" I mumbled as I looked at her with a sigh of defeat.

"Yeah, I know" she said with a teaseful smirk "But I like to be a little insane every now and again"

"I can see that" I mumbled sarcastically.

"Come on Kirito" Asuna said with a warm and friendly smile "It's going to be fun, I promise!"

"W-Well someone seems optimistic" I mumbled with a pout as we each stood up from our crouched down position behind the sand dune.

"Well of course" She said with a smile as she reloaded the magazine of her machine gun "I have this baby with me. And you two of course"

"While that might be true, I'm still just a noob at this game" I mumbled as I drew my sword and pistol from my belt.

"A noob doesn't reach the quarter finals in a qualifying tournament Kirito" Sinon said with a serious expression "You're more skilled than you think Kazuto. Confidence is key in a raid like this"

"I-I guess so" I mumbled, blushing a little from the sudden praise "A-Alright, so what do you want us to do?"

"Alright, the plan's going like this"

Sinon smirked a bit as she pulled a map out from her inventory of the surrounding area, and also of the whole base. She quickly began giving us orders and showing us what we were supposed to do.

The plan went that I was supposed to charge forward, distracting the guards by the gate and in the nearest sniper towers. When they were distracted, Asuna and Sinon would dash forward in the confusion, disposing of as many snipers in the towers as possible as we dashed towards the main gate.

To cover for the girls, I was supposed to kill at least one of the heavy soldiers by the gate, and injure the other so they would be distracted for the girls' offense. When we had disposed of them and breached into the courtyard, we needed to cover each other with gunfire and kill anything we might see in sight.

As Sinon finished explaining everything, she looked at each of us in turn with a bright smile.

"The most important thing here is teamwork" She said with a clenched fist "If we cover each other and you guys do as I tell you, we might just pull it off"

"Understood"

We both nodded in agreement and made ourselves ready. Asuna pulled her machine gun off her shoulder, and put it safely in her arms as she pulled back in the recoil. I did the same to my pistol, and activated my lightsaber.

"Let's go kick some NPC ass!"

Sinon's words managed to rail me up so much that I smirked and nodded before charging forward at full speed with a bone rattling war cry. I lifted my gun up and aimed. I quickly disposed of the first heavy guard by the gate and when the second and the snipers in the towers realized what was going on, the girls quickly opened fire to cover my aggressive assault.

We had disposed of several snipers and both of the heavy guards when we reached the main gates of the base. I slammed my back onto the thick wall outside to get to cover, taking a peek around the corner to get a view of the remaining of our opponents.

I could feel the heat and color drain from my face as I saw what was inside. A whole battalion with soldiers with guns and metal hounds alike was sprinting towards the gate at top speed, fully determined to stop the 3 intruders that had attacked out of nowhere.

I looked at my 2 companions on my left.

"Alright, get ready girls" I mumbled "if you're not, you either get a bullet or your ass is chopped off!"

Both of the girls took a glance at the incoming attack and shrieked before pulling their weapons and opening fire. I joined their side and did the same with another war cry.

After 10 minutes of intense gun fighting, we had finally managed to push through to the main building of the base. We reached the front entrance, and I nodded at Sinon, who nodded back before pulling the pin of 2 of her grenades, one of them a flashbang, another, a normal one.

The pained screams of blinded and killed soldiers from within the building were exciting to me somehow. I felt how my blood boiled from adrenaline, and I felt how my lips twisted into a smile as we sprinted through the halls, working together as one to dispose any threat that might oppose us.

When one of us was surprised by a sneak attack, one of the others was there to cover us. When a enemy grenade was tossed, it was quickly tossed back to it's original owner. Each of us was fast, effective and efficient, each of us getting tens of kills.

But when we turned another corner at what must have been the 3rd floor, suddenly the lights of the halls went out, and everything was left pitch black. I could hear each of our footsteps slow down to a halt, and I looked around me in confusion.

"W-What the hell is happening!?" I asked softly as I tried fumbling through the darkness "Girls, are you ok?"

"We're fine Kazuto, thanks" I could hear Asuna's voice "Sinon, what's happening here?"

"I don't know guys" She responded in a panic "E-Even I haven't seen this before…"

We could feel how the ground was beginning to shake. _Thump, Thump, Thump. _The shaking was rhythmical, and kept getting stronger and stronger, signifying that something huge was on its way.

"Oh shit… Guys, get ready" Suddenly, Sinon's voice grew silent and nervous "It's a mini boss, so be prepared"

I widened my eyes a bit as I heard these words. Mini boss? Did that mean there was a boss too?

Suddenly the light turned back on, and revealed a grant and terrifying sight. In the middle of the wide and tall room, a giant creature, something that seemed to resemble a dragon made out of pure brownish metal, stood in our path in all of its terrifying glory. It's metallic body shone grandly as the light fell upon it, blinding me for a second as the dragon revealed its weapons, which was a surprisingly small amount.

It was a simple iron sword. Though it was at least a couple of meters long, it resembled the size of the dragon's metallic body. It swung the sword around in a grand manor, before screeching it's roar on the top of its lounges, its name beginning to appear over it's head.

"_**The Bronze Battle Beast"**_

Under its name, 3 long life bars appeared as well. I growled a bit and shot at the metallic body, but the shot merely bounced off of it, the health bars barely taking a single life point worth of damage, where the beast at least had 50.000.

An orange glow emanated from the beast's back as he roared and I widened my eyes as I realized it.

"Guys, it's weak point is on it's back!" I screamed over the dragon's roar "Distract it so I can get behind it!"

"Got it!" I heard from Asuna, who immediately dashed forward "Hey! You oversized lizard! Over here!"

It was clear that this mini boss craved teamwork to be cleared. Each of us dashed forward with a loud battle cry, ready to fight with everything we had.

~Some time later~

Finally, we had managed to kill that damn lizard. I smiled a little as the monster finally exploded in a burst of blue glass like polygons, it's cry slowly emanating and disappearing in the echo of the halls. The polygons slowly and gently lifted to the roof and disappeared, leaving the halls empty and quiet.

"God damn…" Sinon mumbled as she stumbled up to me and leaned a hand against my shoulder in exhaustion "What the hell is up with this place?! That was just the mini boss!"

"I know…" I mumbled weakly as I tossed my partners each a health potion "But if we want any fruit from our efforts, we have to kill the main boss as well"

"Yeah…" Asuna mumbled as she stumbled over to me as well "if we don't, the experience we've earned in here will automatically be pulled back"

"That's right" Sinon mumbled silently "I'm just wondering how tough the boss will be…"

I nodded softly and coughed slightly as I felt a stinging rasp at my throat, surely a product of my exhaustion.

"At least we can have a break since no enemies is left but the boss" I mumbled weakly.

"Yeah, let's go sit down over there so we can rest a little" Asuna mumbled as she walked over and leaned her weak body against the wall and slid down it.

Sinon and I walked over to her and sat down on either side of her to relax. As soon as I sat down, Asuna leaned her head against my shoulder. I smiled a bit as I leaned my head against hers, sighing silently as my muscles finally began to relax as I rested against her. Sinon simply leaned her head against the wall we sat against.

"Man, what a hassle" She mumbled as she began looking through her inventory "I have ammo supplies for myself, and I still have many health potions, so I'm good. How about you guys?"

"We're both fine, thanks" I mumbled, knowing what was in the both of our inventories "We didn't lose that much health. Only bullets. We have some supplies though, so we don't need anything"

"Alright" She mumbled in response" Make sure to get really relaxed and calm ok? We'll need it for the boss battle"

"Alright"

~Even later still~

After our nap we walked through the empty halls. It was weird how, before, we hadn't been able to get through a single hall before meeting resistance, and now, we could simply walk through the halls without the least of worries. It almost felt like a trap, but then again, I knew there wasn't that far to the boss room, so maybe that had something to do with it?

When we finally arrived at the door to the boss room, there wasn't that much spectacle about it. It was a very normal office door, simply with the name tag, _"main office" _Though since there was a quest flag in front of the door, it was not very hard to guess who this office belonged to.

I looked at the girls nervously. This was it. Time to bear fruit of our efforts. They nodded softly and I regained my courage before I nodded back to them, and slowly pushed open the door to the main office.

When we slowly entered the room, it was pitch black. The only thing working as a light source of any kind was the silent moonlight that was thrown in through a large window in the back of the room. The illumination the moon created showed a young woman, maybe a couple of years older than all three of us.

She was very beautiful. A long skirted uniform that seemed almost skintight at her waist and a princess like bow at the back, with white stockings along her slender legs. Her hair was long and golden, reaching just a bit over her slim hips. I couldn't tell much else about her at the time since she was standing with her back towards us though.

When she heard us come in, she looked back over her shoulder in a calm way. Now I could clearly see her face. Small cute freckles along her cheeks, and a round set of glasses on her nose. Her hair was done in elegant and thick twintails along her back, making her look like the more bookworm kind of girl rather than a boss monster in a shooting game.

She smiled silently as she realized she had company, and turned around towards us, a glass of wine in her left gentle hand.

"Ah, so you've come at last" She said with another smile "I was wondering when you guys would show up. Taken care of my little pet huh?"

She giggled dreadingly and twirled over to her desk in the middle of her room as she sat down onto it, one leg over the other as she graced the frame of a photograph that stood upon the desk.

"Say, do you know why I'm doing all of this?" She asked as her automatic monologue kicked in. "Do you know why I'm trying to build an empire up from the very ground?"

Suddenly, a menu popped up in front of me with three options of which I was supposed to choose.

"_For money?"_

"_For power?"_

"_For love?"_

These were the three answers and choices I had been given. I pinched my chin a bit in thought, looking over at the girls who simply shrugged at my questioning expression.

I looked back at the pop up menu and sighed helplessly. Maybe something bad would happen if I chose wrong? I had to be careful about what I was saying here.

After about 20 seconds of thinking I finally pressed the 3rd option, "For love?" The pop up menu immediately disappeared and the woman broke into a giggle.

"Yeees, that's right" She smiled a little "I do it for love"

She giggled again and looked down at the worn out photo, seemingly including herself and a tough looking male, being a bit bigger and taller than her with a wide grin on his face.

"I used to be in love you see" She mumbled silently "But the war of the lands took my love away from me… This young man, who I would live and die for, die by the hands of the enemy"

She growled a bit and slammed her fist onto the table.

"Why… Why does people have to kill each other…" She mumbled silently "So now I'm building an army, stronger and bigger than anything ever seen before"

She looked back at us with an aggressive expression and gritted her teeth.

"This army will crush anything and anyone that stands in it's way, and who seeks to destroy my course. My course to end all wars"

She slammed both her fists onto the table again and cursed under her breath.

"And then you assholes stroll along… And invade my base, my home… Destroying my army, by only hope for peace, and expect me to willingly succumb to your faith?! NEVER!"

A blinding light suddenly filled the room and the floor began shaking under us. As we shielded our eyes from the blinding light, we could hear debris collapse under itself, like walls were falling over or collapsing.

When the light finally disappeared, and we could finally see, the young woman was gone, and the room was a complete mess, to the point where even the walls had collapsed, leaving the room open to the outside.

The roof was open as well, revealing a dark blanket of night sky over everything, gracefully followed along by the huge and beautiful moon. But there was something else in the sky too. Something accompanying the night sky and the full moon.

I widened my eyes as I saw the huge monstrosity. A robot the size of a small house floated in mid-air from support from it's huge engines on its back and thick metal wings, and in it's hands was a huge gun in one hand, and in the other, a sword, much resembling the one the dragon had used earlier. These two were accompanied with a rocket launder on each of the robot's shoulders.

The young woman resonated through a megaphone.

"Now, come at me! Show you everything you've got!"

The boss' name slowly appeared over its head along with its five life bars.

"_**The Iron Eagle"**_

The huge robot suddenly opened fire, and we barely managed to jump out of the way, the girls to one side, and me to the other. The explosion that followed made the little still standing wall collapse over me as I fell to the floor.

As I tried digging myself out, I could only manage to get my head and torso free, the rest of my body being pressed down to much to make much of a difference. I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes in an attempt to gather more strength but to no avail. I gave up and let my body collapse onto the floor as my arms gave way under the heavy weight of the debris.

When I opened my eyes and looked up to check if the girls was ok, I widened my eyes as I was suddenly faced with a huge gun barrel straight in my face. Light was slowly gathering in the dark center, surely about to fire a bullet that would kill me instantly at a range and firepower like hers.

"HAHAHAHA, is that really all!?" The girl's crazy laughter could be heard from within the mech-like robot "You will never survive with skills like those kid! Now say good bye!"¨

The light was growing stronger. Unless a miracle happened, I would surely get killed. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth again, waiting for her to get over with it.

"Dammit…"

**A/N**

**BAM! Cliffhanger ending right in your face!**

**No but seriously guys, hope you guys enjoyed this little chapter here! I had a lot of fun writing it, and thank god, the writers block left me alone this week. Hurray!**

**Now, for some exciting news!**

**As everyone (Should) know, christmas is right around the corner. To celebrate with you guys, I'm going to upload a christmas special for Sword Art Online, After The Incident, and Corpse Party, Memory Loss and Blood Spill.**

**But as you also know, i want my vacations to myself and to hang out with friends and family, so the christmas special is the last thing i will uplaod in a while. Hope you guys understand.**

**Hope to see you guys next time. Have a fantastic week, and merry christmas.**


	29. Christmas Special - Our First Christmas

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Christmas Special – Our First Christmas_

~Kazuto's POV~

I smiled a bit as I walked through the whitely adorned park. It was December 23rd, and I was going to go get my girlfriend a present for Christmas. I had already bought for everyone else, so now I just needed hers. I wanted to save her for last, so I had all the time in the world to make my choice.

I looked up at the grey December sky. It had been snowing last night. I had more or less prayed for a white Christmas this year, since that would only make our first Christmas together all the more magical. I smiled a bit as I walked by shop after shop, clerks standing outside, trying to attract customers.

I had one shop in sight though. It was one she herself had told me she loved to visit from time to time. She had especially commented on the interior, and how well you were treated as a customer. Though knowing her shopping habits, it would be expensive as all hell.

I chuckled softly to myself, and looked up at the sky again with a small smile.

It had begun to snow again. Big white drops of snow floated gently down onto the buzzling street, making several men and women pull up in their coats and scarfs to make sure that they stayed warm. I smiled a bit as I looked up, a gentle snowflake landing onto my nose as I admired the beauty of gentle winter. Though of course it couldn't compete with the beauty of the woman who I was now out to buy a gift for.

I smiled a bit as I finally saw the small shop a bit further down the street. It was a cute little shop for such a rich and fruitful part of town, but then again, maybe it was part of the shop's charm?

It was a simple-looking building from the outside, being a simply white building with tall bright windows in the front, showing off the wonderful, and probably expensive, jewelry that they had for sale at the current time. Just from outside I could see many wonderful candidates for a good Christmas present, though I still wanted that one that could tell her how much I loved her.

I needed something unique. Something she would love no matter what. Something that could remind her of all the good times we had had together. I smiled a bit as I stepped through the doors to the store. I was a bit surprised as I was immediately greeted by a young girl with long brown hair and glasses, standing there in a Santa Claus outfit and a bright smile on her lips.

"Welcome to Bijoux Parfait" She said with a small smile "Please take your time, mister. I'll be right there if you need anything"

"Wow, Asuna wasn't kidding when she said the customer service is great here" I mumbled in wonder.

"That's right, we take great pride in our customer service here" She said with a bright smile "What are you looking for sir?"

"Well, I was looking for a Christmas present for my girlfriend" I mumbled silently with a slight blush on my cheeks "We're celebrating our first Christmas this year, so I wanted to get her something special"

"I'm sure she's lovely" the girl said with a bright smile "How old is she? I there anything particular she likes?"

"Well, I was wondering," I mumbled as I looked down my wallet "can you have customary jewelry made here?"

"Yes, you can. Though that costs a little extra" She mumble as she thought about it.

"Well, then I have a thought" I mumbled "I have this drawing I have made these last few days. Could you take a look at it?"

She smiled and nodded as I began pulling out my drawing from my pocket, and showed it to her. I had drawn it the best I could, and I hoped she could tell that it was supposed to look like an open treasure chest, with a pink heart inside it.

She smiled softly as she took my drawing from my hands and looked at it briefly.

"This is very cute" She said with a bright smile "This can be arranged. We can even have a gem in the lid of the chest if you want?"

"How much is it going to cost to make a bracelet with that?" I asked softly.

"About 50000 Yen"

My jaw hit the floor at that insane prize.

"50000!? Are you out of your mind!?"

"No, I'm afraid not" She mumbled with an apologizing expression "Jewelry is very expensive lately. The fact that you want a customized piece of jewelry, and the gem only adds to the prize"

"What if I remove the gem from the list?" I mumbled, wondering if my wallet could take this much "How much would it cost then?"

"Then already the prize would drop to almost 50000 Yen" She said with a smile "Though, I think it's worth seeing your girlfriend's surprised and happy expression"

"Yeah I guess you're right"

That was true. Nothing could compare to her smile. I thought about her expression as she would open the gift box. Her face would light up, first in confusion and surprise, then in pure happiness. She would begin questioning how the hell I managed to afford this kind of stuff. Though I was lucky enough to have a free time job.

I smiled a bit at the thought and looked up at the clerk with a sigh.

"I think you've managed to convince me" I mumbled softly "Do you have a gift wrapping service?"

"Yes sir, though that is a free service" She said with a bow and a smile "I will be borrowing the drawing so our crafter has something to work with. You can expect it to be done tomorrow afternoon"

"That soon? That's perfect!" I said with a smile "Do I pay now, or…?"

"No, no! That's not necessary" She said with a smile "you can pay when you get your jewelry tomorrow"

"Good, then goodbye for now" I said with a smile as I walked back out of the store.

"There, Asuna" I said as I looked up at the sky for the third time that day "Your gift is in place. Hope you'll love it"

I began looking back down the street the same way I came, smiling silently to myself the rest of the way home.

~The next afternoon~

I smiled a bit as I stepped through the door to my house, the smell of roasting meat in the oven hitting my nose as soon as I stepped inside. The fact that the food was in good hands with Asuna and my aunt, only made me all the more sure that it would become a magical evening.

Asuna was the first to greet me by the door, quickly pulling her oven gloves off of her hands before jumping into my arms with a delighted giggle. She threw her arms around my neck and pecked quickly on my lips as she smiled at me.

"Welcome home sweety" She whispered sweetly as she nuzzled her nose against mine "And merry Christmas"

I chuckled softly and kissed her back, trying to hide the small bag with the gift for her behind her back.

"Thank you honey" I smiled a little and kissed her again before putting her back down on the floor "when we move together, is this how I'm going to get greeted every day?"

"Maybe, if you're lucky" She said with a giggle "What's in the bag?"

"That doesn't concern you. Yet" I said with a smile as I put it back into my coat pocket "Wait till tonight missy"

"Aww, but I want to see what you bought for me!" She mumbled with a pout "Meh, I guess I can wait till tonight. Just remember to keep an eye on that gift"

"Of course, I can't risk you peeking" I said with a smile "How are you doing with the food?"

"Good, the duck is in the oven right now" She said with a smile as I kicked my shoes off my feet "you can help with the rest if you want!"

"Well, you do know that I'm horrible in a kitchen" I said with a chuckle "I needed your help with that Ragout Rabbit for a reason"

"Come on, it's not like you're going to burn down the house" She said as she dragged me off towards the kitchen "you do know how to cut salad right?"

"I guess I can do that" I mumbled as she put me in the right place "Though normally that's Suguha's job"

Suguha was standing in the opposite end of the kitchen, throwing a glare after me.

"Shut up Kazuto!" she mumbled with a pout as she stirred around a soup "I do know how to cook meat"

"Then why did I have to live with salad the past three years!?"

"Because it's healthy. Now concentrate on your salad"

"I'm so tired of salad…" I mumbled melodramatically as I cut tomatoes and everything.

Soon we were finished with the last bits of food and we put everything that needed to be heated in the oven to get the last bit of heat, and everything else was put in the fridge. I smiled a bit and clapped my hands together in success.

"Done" I said with a smile "What's next?"

"Well, I need to go home and get prepared for tonight" Asuna said with a wide smile "Our families are celebrating together remember?"

"How could I ever forget?" I said with a smile as I lead her to the front door.

That's right. Tonight, Asuna, her parents and her brother, would come over to celebrate Christmas with my aunt, sister and myself. I saw it as a chance to bond a bit more with her family, especially her brother, who I hadn't interacted with much in the past.

I smiled a bit and wrapped her white coat around her body and she smiled as she turned around to look at me.

"Why thanks sir" She said with an overdramatic voice, and a giggle.

"No thank you for visiting madam" I said with a smirk and a bow, like I was a waiter. "See you tonight alright?"

"See you" She whispered and planted a kiss on my lips before running out the door.

I smiled and watched her walk down the street a moment before closing the door and walking back inside, the bit of a cold wind following me inside for a moment before getting engulfed by the intense fire of the fireplace in the living room.

I smiled a bit and jumped upstairs three steps at a time, and straight into my room. Just as any other time, I was hassling to put on a good outfit for these kinds of occasions. I would always get stuck on the most stupid things, like which tie to wear or if I was supposed to bring a jacket. Though this time I managed to put together an outfit relatively quick.

I smiled a bit and dashed towards the bathroom, quickly stripping down and getting a quick bath. I rinsed myself down and put soap in my hair, before rinsing that out as well and quickly exiting the shower. I jumped into the nice outfit I had chosen, and smiled a bit as I looked at my mirror.

I didn't know if it was too casual. I had just chosen a long set of dark jeans and a white t-shirt, along with my black hoodie.

"Is it too casual?" I turned my head at my reflection to look at every angle "Nah, it's fine. I want to be casual and cool in my own home"

I sighed silently and put my phone on my desk as I sat down at my computer and began running through a couple of emails. When that was done, and the usual spam was taken care of, I went back downstairs.

I smiled a bit at the two others. They smiled back at me as they began setting the table for tonight.

"You look good Kazuto" Suguha said with a smile "Asuna will be happy to know you can act casual with her family"

"Yeah, I know" I mumbled silently "I thought if I dressed up too nicely I would only get tense and nervous when they finally got here"

"Good thinking sweety" My aunt walked over and planted a kiss on my forehead "Don't be nervous. It's going to be great"

"Thanks mom" I whispered appreciatively as I closed my eyes.

"I hope so"

~Later that evening~

I smiled a bit and looked up from my phone as I heard the doorbell. I smiled a bit as I more or less sprinted out to the front door, before opening up.

"Welcome" I said with a smile as I saw Asuna and her family on the other side, wanting to be polite.

"Hey hun" She said softly as she stepped up and kissed me deeply.

I blushed a little as she kissed me right in front of her parents, but smiled and kissed her back.

"Woah Asuna, calm down" Her older brother said with a teasing voice "Wait with all that till later alright?"

"Shut up" She mumbled as they all stepped inside, her parents and brother each shaking my hand.

"Good to see you again my boy" Asuna's dad gave me a hearty laugh and a strong handshake.

"You too sir" I said with a smile "Come on in guys. The food is ready for you"

"Such service here" Asuna's mother said with a teasing smile "I know it's good since Asuna has been helping"

"Mom…" Asuna mumbled with an embarrassed blush.

"you don't even know" I said with a chuckle as I led everyone into the kitchen.

The dinner went by relatively peacefully. I couple of jokes was made, and hearty laughter and the clatter of kitchen ware soon filed through the room, the fireplace in the far end of the room silently crackling the time away. Soon, every last bread crumb had been eaten, and everyone had satisfied expressions on their faces.

We all soon moved to the living room, the Christmas tree we had brought in a couple of days ago shining brightly with its Christmas balls and bulb strings delightfully shining, giving the room a nice and cozy feeling.

When the night began drawing to a close, and the most of the presents had been opened, there was only the last two presents. One from me to Asuna, and one the other way around. I smiled a bit and slowly pulled the present for me closer to me, and looked over at Asuna as she did the same thing.

"Should we go somewhere private?" I whispered softly as I leaned over against her "might make this moment more, magical, I guess?"

She nodded softly and blushed a little as she stared at the small gift wrapped box between her hands.

"Yeah, sounds good"

I took her hand and lead her out to the backyard and terrace, smiling a bit as we leaned against the railing and stared up at the sky, which was now filled with millions and millions of stars.

I looked over at Asuna with a small smile. I saw her shivering a little bit, so I pulled her closer by her shoulders and wrapped my arm around her tightly.

"Come on Kazuto, open your gift!" she said with a soft smile.

I looked over the present curiously. It was a rather big package actually, all wrapped up in a neat little bow. I soon had it opened and widened my eyes as I saw what was inside.

It was a perfect replica of the Dark Repulser, perfect with hilt and everything. It was meant to be put up on the wall as a decoration, or as a realistic piece of cosplay.

H-How did you get this?!" I mumbled as I stared at her in shock.

"Well, I know a friend" She said with a smile "Andrew knows somebody who makes merch likes this, so he helped me"

"You're such a treasure!" I yelled in excitement as I kissed her deeply "Thank you so much! This is amazing!"

"I'm happy you liked it" She said with a smile "Now, it's my turn!"

I smiled a little as I watched her open her present. Just as I had predicted, her face lit up almost like the northern star.

"Woah Kazuto…" She smiled widely as she saw the cute metal and silver bracelet on the bottom of the box "it's so beautiful… How did you get it?"

"Remember that little jewelry shop you've been talking about?" I asked a bit as she snuggled closer to me for warmth.

"You bought it there!?" She asked in surprise "That place is crazy expensive!"

"Well, no prize is as high as the prize of your smile" I said softly as I kissed her cheek "If I have to be expensice to make you smile, then so be it"

"You're such a charmer" She mumbled silently.

I chuckled softly and turned my body towards her, and she let me wrap my arms around her waist. The light from inside the house softly illuminating the terrace and us. I smiled a bit as I moved some hair off of Asuna's face, and she gently pushed her face towards my hand.

"This evening has been amazing" I mumbled silently as we drew closer.

"Yeah, it has"

"Want to know how to complete it?"

"I think I already have a pretty good idea"

She smiled a bit and pulled gently at the hood of my jacket. I smiled and leaned towards her, gently kissing her lips as we let the snow fall over us. The mood, the evening, this whole Christmas had been perfect. And I hoped that every Christmas from now on would be just as wonderful.

**A/N **

**Hey guys! And merry Christmas!**

**Hope you guys will have a fantastic Christmas, Hanuca, and what else it's called. Honestly I don't know.**

**Anyway, happy holidays, and may you have a fantastic 24****th**** of December.**


	30. Chapter 29 - Exhaustion

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 29 – Exhaustion_

~Kirito's POV~

I stared at the small light from the depths of the barrel of the gun, before closing my eyes hard, preparing myself for the worst. Even though I knew it wouldn't hurt me in the real world, I still couldn't help but worry how much it would hurt, or if I might actually die if I died in here. I guess it was traumas of the past that was still haunting me.

I waited. I waited for the soft sound of a trigger being pulled, and the loud and sharp sound of a bullet being fired right in my face. But to my surprise, it never came. It sounded more like something clashing with metal. When I snapped my eyes open, I couldn't believe what I saw.

It was Sinon. She had grabbed the lightsaber I had dropped when the explosion had gone off earlier, and slammed it against the barrel of The Iron Eagle's gun, somehow throwing the mech robot so much off of balance that the bullet that was meant to hit my forehead, only barely swished past my ear. I could even feel a virtual liquid drip down from a wound in my ear which was caused by the wild bullet.

I stared at Sinon as the robot retaliated and grabbed her arm, throwing her across the room and slamming her against the upper wall. Soon Asuna attacked instead, mercilessly firing away at the robot's back, and knocking it even further out of balance. This distracted the boss for a moment, which gave Sinon the window of opportunity to dig me out of the mountain of rubble on top of me.

"Are you okay, Kirito?" Sinon asked worriedly as she helped me to my feet.

"I'm fine Sinon, thanks" I mumbled as I grabbed my lightsaber and pistol "We have to help Asuna! Come on!"

"Right!"

We both sprinted forward with impressive battle cries, determined to defeat this powerful new threat.

"Sinon, you help Asuna attack from above" I yelled through the storm of bullets "I'll knock it off balance from the feet!"

"Got it!"

I growled in adrenalinic excitement as I dodged bullet after bullet, making sure to speed forward towards the huge robot. The person maneuvering the robot screamed at the top of her lungs as she landed in the middle of the battlefield, opening fire wit everything she had as she spun around, sending her ammunition in all directions.

Rockets and bullets swished around to all sides, and I barely dodged or parried any of them, and I saw how especially Sinon had trouble catching up. It made sense since she was a sniper, that she hadn't put as many points into AGI as either Asuna or I.

The three of us managed to push the robot out of the ruins of her past office and base, and at some point, we arrived at the base's huge courtyard. My two companions gasped for air and strained their virtual muscles as they sprinted up their respective wall and jumped over the huge robot somehow, pulling it's attention upwards while they opened fire, reducing it's health bullet for bullet.

As it's attention was pointed elsewhere, I made sure to focus more on it's lower body. I reached the huge metal body within seconds and dug my sword deep into it's left leg, while firing away at my pistol at the right leg. It fell down on one knee, more specifically the one attached to the leg I had just bored my plasma sword deep into.

It seemed to take more damage from physical damage than bullets or plasma shots. This made sense since it mostly depended on it's barrage of weapons to keep it's opponents on a set distance, making it extremely hard to get close to.

I tried to dig my sword even further into the melting metal plates of the mechanical beast, but was quickly slapped away by the huge metal arm of the monster, sending me many meters into the air, and plunging onto the ground about 10 meters away.

"Kirito!"

A couple of meters away I could hear the girls call for me in worry, but they had no choice but to keep their focus on the impressive opponent we had been occupied with.

I grunted as my back hit the ground hard, and I held a hand to my head as I leaned up on my arms, and eventually got back to my feet.

"Damn, that thing is though" I mumbled as I saw it had lost about 20% of its health "this is going to be tough"

I had taken about 50% damage from the punch of the robot alone, letting me realize how much at a disadvantage we were at. The girls was soon pushed back too, and soon they each joined one of my sides with deep and raspy breaths.

"This thing is impossible to beat!" Sinon growled in desperation.

"No, It's not!" I said to her harshly "If you two keep distracting it, I'll make sure to hit it with everything I have from under it. It takes more physical damage than bullet damage"

"Alright, time to be a decoy again I guess" She mumbled with furrowed brows "Just know that if I die, I will make you pay the death penalty"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever" I mumbled as we each took our stance and dashed forward again with a mighty roar

"hhhaaaaAAAARRRGGHH!"

~Klein's apartment. Klein's POV~

I sighed a little as I got my pizza from the deliveryman, and payed him what I owed him, closing the door behind me as he thanked me for the extra. Lately, even my pizzas had seemed tasteless. I was tired of sitting on the sidelines, I think everyone was. I desperately wanted to help my best friend, though he had insisted on going on this mission, only with his girlfriend.

I sighed deeply again as I sat down in my couch. I popped open the lid of the cardboard box containing my pizza, and I looked down at the dish I normally loved beyond maybe even games. Today, it just didn't seem as impressive or delicious as it used to do though.

I sighed a bit and looked up from my crouched down position as I suddenly heard my doorbell ring. I raised an eyebrow in confusion. Hadn't I given the pizza guy enough?

I walked up to the door and opened it slowly, expecting to see someone on the other side, though, I didn't. The only thing I found was an empty walkway from apartment to apartment.

I looked down at my feet. I widened my feet as I saw a normal paper letter lying there on the walkway. Strange, no one used that kind of mail anymore. I picked it up and searched for any return address or a name, but both the front and the back of the letter was blank.

"Strange… a normal paper letter with no return address.." I mumbled as I pulled back into my apartment "This smells far away of something fishy…"

I looked down at the suspicious letter, and slowly opened it. Inside was a short letter. Though the contents was short, I had never read something so disturbing or unsettling then those small phrases.

"_Hello, Ryotarou-san._

_You don't know me, but I definitely know you. And the people you are surrounded with._

_I will only warn you once. Stay away from Kazuto and Asuna, the next 30 days. When those 30 days are gone, you can see them again. If they aren't dead and buried by then that is._

_This is your only warning. If you choose to ignore my warning anyway, I will make sure to bring pain onto anyone you hold dear. Your friends, your family. Anyone you have ever spoken with. That's a lot of innocent people on your consciousness, now isn't it?_

_So I suggest you do as I say. Or your friends gets it…"_

I barely even finished reading the letter before it fell out of my shaking hands, and onto the cold floor of my silent apartment.

I had never felt so scared, or so threatened in my entire life. Not even the feeling of the reveal of the Death Game back in SAO could compare to this.

It wasn't as much the fact that my friends was in danger, cause I knew they could take care of themselves if they had to. What scared me more, is that this person apparently knew exactly where everyone I knew lived, and apparently had the means to hurt, even kill them if he had to.

My whole body began shaking now. I could barely sit still. I tracked round and round my tiny apartment, trying to figure out what to do. I couldn't tell anyone right? Apparently this guy knew where I lived and where the others were. So why wouldn't he be able to tell if I had talked to the others about it?

"Shit… This is fucked up…" I groaned as I slumped back into my sofa, looking at the pizza I had had delivered "I have definitely lost my appetite now.."

~Kazuto's POV, Gun Gale Online~

I panted deeply as i slumped backwards in exhaustion. The mech had crumbled onto it's knees and it's cockpit had popped open, the young woman controlling it slowly stepping out of it. Asuna and Sinon quickly joined me, just as exhausted as I was.

"Geez… Is it not over yet?" Sinon asked with a growl.

"Don't you worry girly" The girl mumbled silently as she collapsed onto her knees "The mech uses my own life force as a fueling source. The fact that you destroyed that, also means you destroyed me"

"Well that's encouraging at least" I mumbled sarcastically as I put my sword back in my belt "So we're just waiting for you to explode?"

"Yeah, pretty much" She said with a bitter chuckle "Good work soldiers. I can only be happy to have lost to such powerful soldiers"

"Now, suddenly she's happy we destroyed everything" I mumbled with a confused expression.

"Just shut up and let her talk" Sinon mumbled as she bore her elbow into my ribs.

"Aow, okay, okay"

"You guys are good, I'll give you that" The girl mumbled with a sigh as she slumbed forwards towards us "I hope you guys can manage to level this war to the ground"

"We'll do our best" Asuna mumbled silently as she watched the woman collapse on the ground.

Finally, and with a heavy and exhausted sigh, she took her last breath and disappeared in a sea of blue glass shards.

We watched the glass shards slowly ascend into the heavens, in a mix of exhaustion and nostalgia.

"Well, I'm happy that's over at least" I mumbled silently as I rubbed my sore shoulder "What do we do know?"

"Well, considering our exhaustion," Sinon mumbled with a groan "Let's get back to the safe zone. We can continue training tomorrow"

"That sounds like a plan to me" Asuna mumbled as she let her body collapse onto her legs "I am exhausted"

"Pff, that was nothing" I said with a teaseful cocky attitude "I could have taken him myself"

"That is complete bullshit" Sinon said with a laugh as she hit my shoulder, making me yell in sore pain "Asuna, could you go back to the safe zone? I have to speak with Kazuto in private"

I looked over at her in surprise. What could that be?

"W-Well, if you have to have some privacy," Asuna asked in a surprised tone "I guess its okay for me. You okay with that Kazuto?"

"I guess it's okay" I mumbled silently, just as surprised as Asuna herself was "Okay, we'll see you later Asuna"

I smiled a bit and walked over to her, kissing her cheek softly before she waved and began walking towards the safe zone. When I had waved back to her with a smile, I turned towards Sinon with a wondrous expression.

"So, what are you gonna talk to me about?"

"Well, I'm going to keep it short" She said with a smile "I need you to meet me in town tomorrow, alone"

"Huh? Why can't Asuna come with?"

"Because this is rather personal stuff" She mumbled, her smile suddenly turning into a serious expression "I just need you to be at the town plaza, by yourself, tomorrow an hour before the planned time"

"Uhm sure. If you want me there, I'll be there"

She smiled and nodded softly before stretching and sighing deeply.

"Geez I'm beat…" She mumbled tiredly "Mind if I log out right away? Who knew games could exhaust you so much"

"The irony is real" I said with a chuckle "Well, if you're tired, you can go ahead and log out. I'll catch up to Asuna soon enough. Just know your body might be looted out here"

"I'll take the chance" Sinon said with a smirk "This area is so high level that people don't dare to come out here anyways"

"WHAT!? You said this area was a low level area!"

"Aww stop screaming at me" She said with a giggle "You survived didn't you? See ya tomorrow"

"Hey! Come back here!" I yelled as I reached out towards her "I'm not done with you!"

But before I could reach her she managed to giggle and log out of the game, leaving me behind on the beach.

"Son of a…" I mumbled quietly as I silently began chasing down Asuna.

_~A bit later, in the real world~_

I sighed softly as I sat up in my hospital bed and pulled off my VR helmet. I looked around the room to see nurse Aki, standing between me and Asuna's beds, taking note about how our conditions were. By my bedside, to my surprise, Lizbeth was sitting on a wooden framed chair, looking down at me with a smile.

"Welcome home guys" She said with a smile as I sat up in the bed.

"Thank Liz" Asuna said with a smile.

We were both soon helped out of the stickers that connected us to the IV and the other medical machines, before walking over to hug Liz close.

"Thanks for visiting Liz" I said with a smile as we parted from her "We're ready to leave in a second, so please wait a bit more okay?"

"Sure" she said with a smile as she walked out to the hall.

I smiled a bit and wrapped an arm around Asuna, kissing her cheek as I put on my shirt.

"Whew I'm exhausted" I mumbled silently as I snuggled closer to her "Kind of just want to go home and snuggle on the couch"

"That sounds interesting" Asuna said with a teaseful smirk "Good thing we don't have to walk home, since my mom is picking us up"

"I thought she was busy working" I mumbled as we walked out to the hall to join Liz.

"Well, she was…" Asuna said with a smile "But she was free early today, so she could pick us up"

"Well, that's great" Liz said with a smile as we walked downstairs to the lobby "That means I can come home with you guys and make sure you don't rip the clothes off each other"

She smirked a bit and looked at us suggestively as she stood in front of us with a teaseful smile and confident expression.

"It's not like that" both Asuna and I said in perfect unison.

"I know, I know" she said with a laugh "It was a joke, damn"

She continued to chuckle silently as we reached the lobby, and eventually the automatic slide doors of the exit. We soon reached the parking lot, and sure enough, Asuna's mother was standing beside her grey family car to pick us up.

"Oh! Rika is here too!" Her mother said surprised "Are you in need of a ride too Rika?"

"Well, that would be great" Rika said with a tomboyish smirk " I was actually asking Asuna here if I could hang out at her place"

"Well, we'll have to make dinner for one extra" Kyouko said with a smile "But I'm sure if kazuto would help, we can have it done on usual time"

"That sounds good" Rika said with a smile as she sat in the back seat.

"Wait, what?" I mumbled in surprise "I-I thought I was going home to myself?"

"Hell no Kazuto" Asuna said with a small laugh "You're coming home with me!"

"Asuna, watch the language" Kyouko said with a frown.

"Sorry"

"W-Wait a minute!" I yelled as Rika reached out of the car and pulled me onto the back seat "I don't even get a choice here!?"

All three ladies turned towards me with each their own grin.

"NOPE!" They yelled and giggled.

I sighed a little and slumped into the seat.

"So much for freedom in a relationship" I mumbled with a pout as Asuna stepped in, and we drove away.

"I don't think you should complain Kirito" Lizbeth said with a chuckle "Don't you want to be close to three beautiful ladies?"

"Okay, hold on" I yelled as I pointed at her sharply "Two of those ladies are my girlfriend's best friend and mother! Don't you get any ideas now!"

As the girls laughed and talked on, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I took it out and looked at the screen. Seemed like the call was from Klein.

I smiled a bit and tapped the screen, putting the phone to my ear.

"Hey Klein! What's up? Didn't you order a pizza?"

"Yeah, uhh, I did" He mumbled, with an unsettling low tone "but that can wait until I've told you this…"

"Huh?" He seemed troubled. In worry, I sat forward and rest my arms on my lap. "Klein, is something wrong?"

"Yeah, there is…" He mumbled silently "I got a disturbing letter today… And I was told that if I don't stay away from you… Everyone I knew would be killed…"


	31. Chapter 31 - Calming My Nerves

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 31 – Calming My Nerves_

~Kirito's POV, inside GGO~

I hadn't gotten any sleep last night. I had been too angry to do so. I had spent most of the night trudging around between the kitchen, to the living room and through the hall and back to the kitchen, Cursing at myself for being so stupid as to think that Sugou wouldn't go to such lengths.

I cursed at my own stupidity. I was so angry that I felt like destroying everything around me. Asuna had somehow managed to calm me down at some point, but I couldn't remember how, or how late it was when I was finally in a taxi and on my way home to my own place.

On the way there, I had checked my phone, and realized I had gotten texts from both Scilica, Agil, and Sascha, that they had all received either emails or normal letters with either no return address, or a corrupted return email, that pretty much said the same thing that Klein's letter had warned him. Stay away from Kazuto or else. It seemed like the same email was spreading through my entire social circle.

Even now I couldn't stop the strong shaking in my hands from anger, and I just couldn't get my thoughts off of those letters and emails.

To think that Sugou would threaten my friends like that. I would not let him get away with this!

I widened my eyes a bit and was ripped out of my thoughts as I heard someone cough just nearby. I looked up and saw Sinon, a small and a little embarrassed smile crawling onto my face.

"Oh, hey Sinon" I said with a smile "I didn't see you"

"Yeah, I noticed" She said with a soft smile "You seem bothered. Something the matter?"

"Oh, you think?" I felt a frown on my eyebrows "I-It's nothing really. Just trouble with Sugou again"

"Huh? What did he do this time?"

I sighed a bit and explained everything that Klein had explained to me, and what had happened until now. She already knew about Sugou and how he had treated us the last two years, so I didn't find any reason not to tell her.

When I was finished explaining everything she was only left with a shocked expression and clenched angered fists. I could even see how her pupils in her eyes were shrinking from anger.

"That asshole…" She mumbled silently, and let the tenseness in her body calm down "So, what are you going to do?"

"Win the tournament, lure Sugou out, and kill him" I mumbled coldly.

As I mentioned "Kill" Sinon looked at me even more shocked than before. She seemed like she couldn't even believe what she was hearing.

"K-K-Kill!? Are you insane!?" She yelled loudly.

The few people on the plaza looked our way when she yelled but I didn't pay attention to them. It was true, it might backfire if I actually killed him. I might even end up in prison if I did that.

"No, but I'm going to go insane if he isn't dealt with" I mumbled coldly and stood up "I need him to be gone, and not able to come back Sinon"

"How can you say that?" She asked in a bit calmer tone now "How can you be so calm about you wanting to kill someone?"

"I'm this calm about it because I've made up my mind" I said without hesitation "We've tried to keep him in prison before and it failed. Killing him is the only option, or he'll surely come back"

"But, what if you go to prison!?" Sinon asked in an angry tone "Think about how your friends would feel! How Asuna would feel!"

I sighed a bit as we began walking down the road, talking in a bit of a hushed tone.

"I know I can get imprisoned for it Sinon" I mumbled, a bit taken aback about how persuasive she was on the subject "But I don't see any other way"

She sighed a bit and shook her head at me, before falling silent for a while. To change the subject of the conversation, I looked over at her and cleared my throat to break the awkward silence between us.

"A-Anyway, what do you want me here for?" I asked softly as I looked over at her "I mean, I didn't come here an hour earlier for nothing, did I?"

"No, of course not, dumbass" She mumbled softly as she took a left down an alleyway "You need to follow me. I need to show you something cool"

She said this with that smile of hers again. Somehow, I didn't know if she was being serious or teasing. I sighed a bit and pouted as I followed her down the alleyway.

"I'm not completely sure if you're being serious or not" I mumbled as I followed her.

"You don't always have to be though" She said with another smile back at me "Don't you worry, I'm being serious here"

I decided to keep shut from now on. I didn't want to annoy her, and to be honest, I didn't feel that much like talking. I was too angry at the circumstances to have all that much care for small talk anyway.

When we reached the outskirts of town, I couldn't help but wonder why we were hear. I knew she had to show me something, but what could so important to show me in the dead wasteland around town? Crumbled buildings and skeletons of animal!?

When we reached the gate to the outside world, we walked outside and took a right along the wall of the city. What the hell was going on here?

We walked along the wall for a moment before I couldn't contain my curiousity anymore, and I spoke up to ask Sinon.

"Sinon? Where are we going?"

"It's just a little further, don't worry"

She smiled a little as we began to reach the stonewalls of the caves that stood beside the town. When we reached the stonewalls, we began to follow them, until we found a small cave, which I thought was a low level dungeon.

It turned out it was only a small safe spot for players to rest. The cave ceiling was an open hole, leading out to the dark grey skies of the wasteland outside. In the middle of the cave was a hill made out of a dirt, and a single fruit tree stood in the middle, dead and lonely. It seemed pretty lonely here, but a sense of tranquility also rose through the air as we entered the small cave entrance.

I looked around me at the dark grey stone walls, and then over at Sinon with a questioning look.

"Sinon, what are we doing here?" I asked as she led me up to the tree by the wrist.

"Well, I wanted to show you this place" She said with a smile as we reached the dead tree "I always come here when I have something in my mind"

"I can see that it's a good place for you to think things through" I admitted as I looked up into the sky "But what is the point about showing me this place?"

"Well, I wanted to wish you good luck" She said with a smirk as she sat down against the tree trunk "This place is special to me, and it always calms my nerves if I'm nervous about something"

She smiled a bit and patted the space beside her, signaling for me to sit down beside her. I did as I was told and smiled softly as I looked up into the sky through the hole in the top of the cave.

"I wanted to wish you luck," She said softly "and since this place always keeps me at ease, I thought maybe it would help you to concentrate and relax at the tournament next week"

"Well, it's a very nice gesture" I said with a smile "Thank you Sinon but, why only me?"

"Well, I think you're going through a lot" Sinon said with a small smile "Asuna and your friends might be going through a lot too, but they haven't actually been physically tortured"

"That's true I guess" I mumbled quietly as I looked over at her "I think Asuna would need to relax at the tournament too though"

"That's what you're there for, Casanova" Sinon said with a snicker "I can tell she loves you a lot. And as long as you're there with her, I'm sure she's going to do fine"

"Geez, now you're just buttering me up" I said with a blush and an embarrassed chuckle "But thanks. Hearing you say that cheers me up at least"

"It better" she said with a smirk "You need SOMEONE to cheer you on in the tournament. If not your friends, let me cheer you on"

"You're my friend too though"

I didn't know where that came from, it just sort of blurted out by itself. The effect was crystal clear though, as a blush slowly crept onto Sinon's cheeks.

"T-Thanks" She mumbled with a small smile, and a still deepening blush "Well, we should get back to the plaza. There's not much time left before Asuna logs in"

"Oh yeah, you're right" I mumbled silently as I glanced at the clock on my HUD "It's almost 15:50. We should hurry up"

And with that, with Sinon in the lead, we made it back towards the city.

~Asuna's POV, back at the plaza~

"Geez, where are they?" I mumbled as I glanced at my clock "They should have been here 10 minutes ago… And Kazuto logged in early, so why isn't he here at least?"

I sighed a bit and tapped my foot into the concrete tiling of the plaza, until I spotted them walking down a nearby alleyway, Kazuto in front. I smiled softly as I saw them and walked over to them with a clear of my throat.

"What are you guys doing huh?" I asked, and glared at them "And why are you coming out of an alleyway, just the two of you huh?"

I could see how the colour drained from Kazuto's face, in contrast to Sinon's which basically inflamed in a dark red blush. I smirked internally as I glared at Kazuto, crossing my arms over my chest.

Of course I knew he didn't cheat on me or had done anything with Sinon. I knew he was faithful. But since they had gotten here late, for whatever reason they were late for, and had made me wait for them, I decided to tease them, just a little bit at least.

"Oh uhh, hi Asuna, uhm" Kazuto mumbled as he stared at you wide eyed "now I know this looks, and sounds really bad, but nothing really happened I swear! Right Sinon?!"

I tried to stifle a giggle as he looked back at Sinon and she promptly nodded.

"T-T-That's right! Nothing really happened Asuna!"

"Pfff, Hahahaha"

I couldn't keep from laughing anymore and I wrapped my arms around my stomach and bent forward in laughter. The two looked at me with a confused expression, and I wiped a tear as I finished laughing.

"Of course nothing happened" I said with a soft chuckle "I know nothing happened. I'm just teasing you guys for being late"

"O-Oh, uhm…." Kazuto quickly fell silent as he realized "geez, you scared the hell out of me"

"That was the plan, dummy" I said as I bonked his forehead, followed by a kiss "Don't you worry, I would never suspect you for something like that"

"Aww" He mumbled with a small smile "I know now"

He smiled softly and walked over to my side as he turned back towards Sinon.

"So, are we going training today or what!?" He asked with an excited smirk "After yesterday's success, we've got to do even better today right!?"

"Damn straight we are" Sinon said with a smirk "We can go to the north this time. There's a village to the north of here in the mountains, and in case the arena uses a snow area, you'd have to be used to terrain like that"

"Makes sense" I said with a smile "The next couple of days we'll be training right?"

"That's right" Sinon said with a smirk "And at Wednesday next week, we're competing in the tournament"

"I'm looking forward to kick some parasite ass" I said with a confident smirk "He won't stand a chance against me"

"My friend, Shinkawa, is fighting in the tournament too" Sinon said with a competitive smile "I'm looking forward to settle the score with him too"

"You sound excited Sinon" Kirito said with a smirk "Just know that we are going to woop your ass as soon as we've dealt with Sugou"

"I take that as a challenge you know" Sinon said challengingly as we all laughed "Sounds good. I look forward to putting a bullet in your skull"

"Not a chance" I said as I chuckled softly "I'll protect him so that doesn't happen"

"I know you will Asuna" Sinon chuckled softly and spawned her sniper rifle onto her back "Let's get going guys, there's still quite the walk until we arrive at the northern territory"

"How do we get there?" Kirito asked softly as we began moving down the street.

"By moving north, cluts" Sinon said with a laugh as Kirito glared at her with a pout "We'll take one of the warpers there. We can't get across the sea if we don't"

"Isn't there a ferry or something more common like that?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Yeah there is, but the warpers takes much less time" Sinon said with a smile "And more time training, means more EXP, loot and ability points"

"Couldn't be more true" Kirito said with a chuckle "Alright, show us the way captain!"

Sinon chuckled softly and gestured for us to follow after her, and I smiled softly as I took Kirito's hand in mine as we walked down the street.

~One week later, Kazuto's POV~

I gulped silently as I twisted my VR helmet between my hands. It was old and scratched, no doubt a result from my movement from home to hospital back when I was held captive in SAO.

I was sitting in my bedroom in my home, nervous and afraid for today's tournament. I remembered everything it had brought with it. So much pain and suffering for the people I held dear and for myself.

But at the same time, it had brought along so many wondrous gifts to me. If I hadn't gone through what I had gone through, I would never have met Asuna, or had our wonderful daughter with her. I would never have met Klein, Scilica, Lizbeth, or any of my other friends that I had today. And now, I was going out to protect them again, risking my life for, hopefully, the last time.

I sighed a bit and put my VR helmet back onto my shelf and stretched my arms. Yui was sitting on the ground in the computer program I had made for her, looking at me with a worried expression.

"Are you okay daddy?" She mumbled silently "You seem nervous"

"I'm okay Yui" I said as I smiled over at her "I'm just a bit nervous for the tournament"

"I understand why" She said with a soothing and sweet smile "I would be nervous too. You're practically going to war in this case"

"That's right" I mumbled silently as I looked up at the ceiling "I just really hope we can catch that bastard"

"Yeah, me too" She said with a sigh "No one is going to hurt my daddy and mommy"

"That's right" I said softly as I went over and sat in my office chair in front of the computer screen "Hey Yui, I've been wondering something"

"Hm? What is it daddy?"

"Have you been lonely lately?"

"Huh?! Where is that coming from all of a sudden?"

"Well, I know we haven't spent all that much time with you lately"

"Oh, so that's what you mean"

Yui cocked her head to the side and put a finger to her lips as she thought about her answer.

"Well, no I wouldn't say I've been lonely" She said with a small smile "After all, you made me an avatar I can go play ALO with, and I have a lot of friends there, so it's no problem"

"Okay, I was just checking if my little girl was doing alright" I said with a small smile.

A small blush crept onto her cheeks and she smiled shyly.

"Daddy! I am not a little girl" She mumbled as she fiddled with her hands "Technically, I am only four years old, but my body is designed to be ten!"

"Aww don't be like that" I said with a chuckle as I poked the screen above her cheek "You'll always be daddy's little girl"

"S-Stop it!" She giggled and twirled around the spot "I won't be daddy's little princess forever you know"

"How do you know that?"

"I literally slayed a dragon today with the others" She said with a confident smirk "I'm a refined and young swordswoman now"

"Well, I look forward to the next time I can go online with you darling" I said with a chuckle "How about we spar a bit when I come back online?"

"That sounds fun daddy" She said with a giggle "And I'll make sure to see if mommy can finally beat you completely"

"I'm the black swordsman, of course she can't" I said with a chuckle.

I looked at the small clock sitting on my desk. Ten minutes left.

"Okay sweety, daddy has to go now" I said with an apologetic smile "But I'll log on afterwards and tell you how it went, okay?"

"Okay daddy" She said as she placed her hands on the screen and kissed it gently "Kick some butt out there, for me and your friends, okay?"

"I will honey" I said as I put my hand on the screen as well "See you later okay?"

I logged off and sighed. She had been very patient, and waited for her parents to come back to her. I swore that I would spent as much time with her as possible after this. I promised.

After going downstairs and putting on my jacket and boots, I shouted back towards the kitchen from the entranceway.

"Okay, I'll be off!"

"Good luck honey!" I heard my mother yell from the kitchen "Kick some butt!"

"I will!" I chuckled a bit at my mother's encouragement.

I was about to walk out the door as Suguha came running in her training gear.

"Wait, wait, wait!" she said with a laugh as she enveloped me in a hug "Good luck big him down okay?"

"I will Sugu, thank you" I said as I squeezed her body "I'll help you make your favorite hamburger steak tonight as a celebration of my victory, okay?"

"R-Really!? You'll do that!?" She said excitedly as she bounced up and down "Alright! Time to get some salad!"

She chuckled and squeezed me again before sprinting back into the kitchen like a little kid excited for Christmas eve.

I chuckled a bit and walked out the door, wrapping my jacket around me extra tight to protect me from the cold wind. My smile soon fell to a serious expression as I walked down the street towards the train station.

"Let's get this over with"

**A/N**

**And there you go guys! Another chapter completed!**

**Man I love writing this stuff. At least as long as I'm not hit with FRICKIN WRITER'S BLOCK! *sigh***

**Oh well, I'm having fun writing for you guys and that's what counts, right?**

**But something else has also hit me today. The fact that as of last week, this fanfiction hit 20.000 views! That is insane!**

**I just want to thank you guys ever so much. I had never expected that this would get so much attention, and it is all thanks to you guys!**

**Thank you so much guys! I love you all!**

**See you guys next week, i love you, and for god's sake, keep reading okay? Here's to 30.000 views! Hurrah!**


	32. Chapter 32 - Shino and Kyouji

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 32 – Shino and Kyouji_

**There's an important A/N in the bottom, so please check that out for me, okay? Now, on to the fanfic!**

~Sinon's POV, 6 days later. The day before the BoB Tournament~

I sighed a bit as I lied on my bed in the real world, staring up at the ceiling with a ton of worries on my mind. Not only on the tournament tomorrow, but Kirito as well.

He had told me that he wouldn't mind going to prison if it meant killing Sugou in the process. I had taken a bit more of a personal approach to the conversation than I would have liked, but his words just took me back to a very critical point in my childhood. One where my future would forever change.

I remembered that time when I was with my mother at the bank when I was little, and the bank was robbed by a desperate douchebag with a money problem and a gun. He had almost killed both my mother and me, but somehow I had forced the gun from him and killed him with an effective headshot.

And just like that robber, Kirito didn't mind killing someone if it meant to reach a certain goal, in this case not to gain money, but to be free of an old danger that had haunted him for years, and was almost driving him nuts at this point.

His behavior and motivations was worrying me to say the least, and I was worried he might get into trouble if this escalated any further than it already had.

I sighed a bit and rolled onto my side, my thoughts falling from Kazuto and the robber to my past, to the plastic softgun in my shelf in my nightstand. Would I be able to hold it today without flipping out?

Ever since my mother and I was attacked in that bank robbery in my childhood, I had been scared to death to hold anything even close to resembling a gun, which was only natural. I had been scarred for life that day, traumatized, and it was all because a douche thought he wanted to take the easy way to money and fame.

But as I walked over to the nightstand and opened the shelf, my thoughts fell once again on GGO. You would almost think that a girl getting traumatized by guns wouldn't play a game that literally had "Gun" in the title, but for some reason, I didn't have the same fear of guns in that world as I had in this one.

It was almost like I was a completely different person when I played, and I had played the game for months now, almost as a kind of therapy from my young trauma. I had never figured out why I could barely approach a gun in the real world, but freely use them in the virtual one.

Though at some point I had convinced myself at some point that it was a matter of personal strength, I hadn't experienced much progress from my therapy, my steps towards a trauma free life being small ones, if almost nonexistent.

I hesitantly forced my hand downwards and grabbed the plastic gun between my hands. I felt like my stomach turned inside out and my mind was a blur, my breathing deepening and getting quicker the longer I held the harmless plastic gun.

When I finally couldn't take it anymore I screamed and tossed the gun to my ground. It bounced a couple of times before sliding under my bed. I panted slightly as I watched where it went.

"I think I'm progressing this…" I mumbled quietly as I got a tissue to pick it up "That was five more seconds than last time…"

I picked up the gun with the cloth in hand and put it back in the nightstand. I sighed softly with raspy breath before lying down on my bed to calm down.

"Geez… At least a little progress today" I mumbled to myself as I looked up at the ceiling again "I wonder how Asuna and Kazuto are vending with this pressure?"

Before I could think anymore of the two of them, I received a text from Kyouji Shinkawa. I looked softly at the screen and smiled.

"_I'm at the café. Do you wanna meet up? :)"_

I smiled a bit and chuckled softly. I had always had the distinct feeling that he had a small crush on me, since he practically spent all his free time with me. And though I appreciated his support and everything, I wasn't entirely sure I was ready for such a thing.

But despite that, I still replied to his text.

"_Sure, I'll be there in ten"_

I smiled all the way out the front door and out on the street on the way to the café. Even though I wasn't interested in a relationship with Kyouji, I was still looking forward to hanging out with him at the café like we always do, and always have done. He might have had a crush on me, but that didn't have to mean that our friendship should change. At least not until he actually confessed.

And I wasn't even unsure about whether he was crushing on me or not. I knew Kyouji in and out, and he was easy to read, like an open book. So when I walked into the café, and saw him wave from the back, I smiled and waved back before walking down to him and sitting down across from him by the table.

"Good to see you again, Shino" He said with a wide smile "I've ordered the usual for us, so don't worry about that"

"An expresso with extra milk?"

"Like you've always liked it" he said with a chuckle "So, how are you doing? It's been a while hasn't it?"

"I guess it has" I said with a smile as I rested my head in my arm on the table "Studying has been cramming up a bit, and I guess I have a friend who needs my help with something"

"Oh really?" He mumbled. I could almost swear a frown cross his eyebrows "What's all that about?"

"Nah, don't you worry about that" I said with a smile as a waiter arrived with our order "It's something rather personal for him, so I don't think he would appreciate me talking about it"

"Gotta appreciate privacy" Kyouji said with his usual smile.

We spent the next 30 minutes talking everything from school, to homework, to what we were doing in our spare time. I had always enjoyed hanging out around Kyouji. He was easy to talk to, and he never judged anyone for what thoughts they shared or how they acted. He was a person I knew I could trust, and I had known that ever since we first met in preschool.

When we had sat there for a while, our coffee was gone, along with the small desert cakes he also had ordered along with them, and we decided to pack up and just walk around town, just enjoying ourselves. I always felt at ease around Kyouji. He had always been kind to me, and had even stood up for me when someone picked at me throughout my childhood.

He was an amazing friend to be honest, but he felt more like a big brother rather than a lover in my opinion. We were always teasing each other, him more than me, and the way I saw it, was that we had the same kind of bond that a couple of siblings would have.

That was why it stung a little when I thought about having to turn down Kyouji when he would confess. First of all I didn't want to ruin the precious bond we had together. Secondly, I didn't want to hurt his feelings. He was important to me and I didn't want to lose him.

Though, I had already set my mind on turning him down. I just didn't feel like that about him, and I was sure he deserved someone better than me anyway. It was best that way.

"Hey, Shino?"

I was ripped out of my thoughts as Kyouji suddenly spoke up, and I looked up at him with a surprised expression.

"Huh? Oh, sorry Kyouji" I mumbled apologetically "I guess I was spacing out"

"That's okay" He said with a smile and a snicker "You do that a lot anyway"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" I mumbled with a pout "Are you calling me lightheaded?"

"Noooo… What makes you say that?" He asked in an obvious sarcastic tone.

I glared a bit and elbowed his rips.

"Geez" I mumbled and sighed as we reached the main shopping district "I don't know how you switch from serious talk, to flirty and teasing"

"Huh? I wasn't trying to flirt" He was blushing madly now, and I smiled.

That's what you get for teasing me.

"Sure, whatever" I said with a chuckle "What did you want to ask about?"

"Well, uhm…" He was suddenly growing silent, and I had a sneaking feeling what it was about "Oh god this is hard to say, uhm…"

"Okay, stop there" I said softly and he looked at me in surprise "You're trying to confess right?"

He looked at me in shock. Did he really not know that I knew?

"Huh!? How did you know!?"

"Come on Kyouji" I said with a smile "We've been friends since preschool. I know you inside and out"

"Yeah, but still.." he mumbles softly as he twiddled his thumbs "I didn't think you would figure it out that fast…"

"Yeah, you're a bit dense sometimes" I said with a soft smile "And Kyouji, I'm not exactly sure I feel about you that way"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm not sure I want a relationship with you right now" I said, a bit silently "I mean, I don't know…"

"O-Oh uhm, well in that case!" He said, trying to gather his courage "At least give me a chance Shino! I mean, you don't know yet, right? So let me get a chance to convince you to go out with me!"

He stepped up to me and grabbed my hand tightly in both of his, and I blushed dark red as I looked up at him, almost fainting from embarrassment.

"H-Huh?! What do you mean Kyouji!?" I looked at him flustered and embarrassed.

"I mean, give me at least one date" He said with a resolute, yet nervous expression "I-If we have a nice date, we can continue to go out like that"

"H-Huh!? And you expect me to answer right out of the blue!?" I yelled in surprise as I turned say from him in embarrassment.

What was I supposed to do? He was demanding a first date, and he had actually confessed. I had to admit, I had always admired Kyouji for his courage, and the amount of courage it must take to ask your crush out must be immense. To be honest, somewhere in the back of my mind, I felt like he deserved a first date.

But at the same time, I knew that I was really busy helping Kirito and Asuna finding that bastard to Sugou, so I had to think it through before I answered.

"Okay, I'll go on a date with you" I said as I turned to him and crossed my arms over my chest.

He lighted up in happiness and delight, jumping up and down in triumph.

"Really!? YAAHOO!"

I couldn't help but chuckle a little at his behavior, but I had to retain a steel face.

"But I want to focus on the BoB tournament tomorrow right now" I said sternly "So as soon as that is over, we can take that first date, okay?"

He smiled and nodded happily, barely able to contain his amazement and excitement.

"That's a deal! Oh man, oh man, oh man!" He yelled happily as he jumped around like a monkey "I did it!"

I giggled a bit at his crazy behavior, but gripped his shoulder to make him stop whatever it was he was doing.

"Calm down man" I said with a smile "it's only one date okay? I'll find out afterwards what happens from then on"

He nodded softly and smiled back at me. I don't think I've ever seen him that happy, and he was usually not the type of guy to jump around in amusement. To be honest, it was a little cute, and quite flattering.

As the day ran along, and me and Kyouji hanged out around the city, we eventually reached my apartment. He smiled softly as he leaned against the wall.

"Well, you're home" He said with a happy smile "I'll see you tomorrow okay? And uhm, in case you were unsure, just put on whatever you feel like, okay?"

I nodded softly, a giggle almost escaping my lips. He had always been very considerate, and he knew damn well that I could be very indecisive.

"Okay, sounds like a plan" I said with a smile "See you tomorrow alright?"

He smiled softly and nodded.

"Knock them dead in the tournament okay?"

He smiled mischievously and stepped towards me, before planting a soft kiss on my cheek. I blushed bright red and touched my cheek where he had kissed me.

"See you tomorrow" he said with a smile before turning away from me and sprinting down the street "YAAHOO! I HAVE A DATE!"

I blushed a bit darker red as he continued to yell and run down the street.

"Geez… is he planning to let the entire town know?" I mumbled quietly and smiling before walking inside.

I smiled a bit as I laid down on my bed. For obvious reasons, the date tomorrow and Kyouji wouldn't leave my head. But I couldn't lose sight of the tournament tomorrow. I had to keep myself on track, and help Kazuto and Asuna.

"No going back now…"

~The next day, GGO tournament area. Kazuto's POV~

My grip tightened a little at the hilt of my lightsaber nervously. This was it. 10 minutes till tournament start. I was unsure whether or not I had ever felt so nervous before. This game was much like the hunger games, except we didn't have to worry about finding weapons or supplies, since we'd have it all from the start.

Though, just as the hunger games, we would all start from a single point, and make our way out into the wilderness. The map consisted of 6 separate areas, the biggest area being several kilometers in diameter, and the smallest being a small sewer underground under the central city in the middle of the map.

I was mostly nervous about that Death Gun character. The map consisted of several areas where stealth had a major advantage. So the fact that he could make himself invisible with his cloak only made this all the more nerve wreaking.

I closed my eyes and tried to focus on the tournament instead of my nervousness, but second after second became more and more tense. I felt how my muscles tensed up, more or less all of my body getting stiff from my emotions alone.

I sighed softly and trudged around like crazy, ripping at my hair in desperation. I looked more and more forward to just getting the hell out of this crazy game, and stick to swords, magic and data building for SAO 2.

I tapped my foot at the floor, checking the time constantly. I felt like growing mad, and it was horrible. 5 more minutes. God, it felt like time was slowing down just to tease or mock me.

I sighed again and growled of frustration as I sat down by the table with Asuna and Sinon looking at me worried.

"I'm sorry guys" I mumbled, not wanting them to worry about me "I'm just getting stressed I guess"

"It's okay Kazuto" Sinon mumbled with an understanding smile "Even people who doesn't have as much at stake as you guys are nervous beyond believe. Just think about something else okay?"

I nodded slowly and lied my upper body on top of the table, trying to make my mind and body relax. I took a few deep breaths but it still felt like my body was craving more and more of me, like it used the oxygen I took in before I had a chance to even breath. My deep breathing, which was supposed to make me relax, only made me all the more tense.

Asuna rubbed me gently on the shoulder, and I had to admit that it helped to loosen my muscles a little bit, though I could still feel a gut-wrenching feeling from the pit of my stomach. I just looked forward to the times where we could relax at home, or at the fields of ALO. I looked forward to spent some more time with our daughter online, and the adventures we could come across.

"Okay, here it is" Asuna said with a serious expression "2 minutes until game start"

"Alright, listen up" Sinon said with a frown "All 50 of the participants will spawn in the central city. From there they will spread out into the land, having one hour of neutrality. From there, we have to find, and kill, every other participant to win the game"

"Right, this is going to be challenging" I mumbled quietly.

It was a lot of opponents to think about. Minus Sinon and Asuna, there was still 47 people other than me who were out to get me, and the thought scared me a little.

Along the nest two minutes, we discussed battle strategy and item storage, until there was about 30 seconds left.

"If you guys want to meet up," Sinon said with a serious expression "meet up in the resting cave of the dessert area"

"Right"

I looked up at a screen of the map of the match. So this is the battlefield huh?

"3…2…1…"

**A/N**

**Hey guys! Thank you for reading this week's chapter!**

**And I have some exciting news for you guys!**

**Do you guys remember me talking about making a Tumblr account before?**

**Well, I chose to make a Twitter instead, since I actually know how to use it XD**

**So, I'm just going to leave the link to my profile here in this chapter and you can go check it out if you want. This profile is for those people who want to chat with me, and discuss anime and fanfics with other happy writers and readers!**

**So feel free to visit my profile and sent me a tweet if you want. I'm sure it will be an amazing time.**

**See you guys next week, and stay awesome!**


	33. Chapter 33 - Bullet Hell

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 33 – Bullet Hell_

~The Tournament Area, Kirito's POV~

I looked around me quickly as we spawned into the tournament area. It really seemed like there was as many contestants as Sinon had said. About 50 or so people was standing in a circle in front of a massvie tree in something that mostly reminded me of a swamp or a wet jungle.

I frowned silently as I looked around me. Our plan was an extremely delicate one to say the least. Who knew if Sugou actually would come out of hiding if I won the tournament? He was sadistic, but not stupid, I knew that much. But it was the only possibility we had left. We had no leads to where he was, or who he had associated himself with. This was our best chance at finding him.

Finally a signal horn blew through the air, signaling for the players to spread throughout the arena. I frowned silently and ran as fast and far as I could, with only the thought of isolating myself from the other players as much as I could.

I pushed my way through the mushy ground of the swamp and ran in-between the trees. As I ran, I saw a short glance of Deathgun, the guy I had faced in the semifinal of the qualifying tournament. He looked over at me, his red glowing eyes piercing mine, and I could have sworn I could hear him chuckle with his robotic voice before he disappeared in the undergrowth.

I frowned a bit and swallowed my spit in fear. He was worrying me to say the least. I knew he would become a challenge to beat, but I had to. I simply had to. I didn't have any other choice.

As I could see the jungle begin to thin out, I smiled softly as I could see the dessert not far from here. The map didn't make much geographical sense, but that was not one of my worries. If I could get into the dessert, I could camouflage myself long enough to at least let the competition thin itself out a bit, and give me less to worry about. And then I could also focus on finding Asuna and Shino.

When I began to feel soft sand underneath my feet, I took a look around me. There didn't seem to be anyone around, but I could always be wrong, so I was still on guard when I began to slow into a casual walk. I had to save my energy for when it counted.

I still couldn't help but look over my shoulder a couple of times though. I had been a bit paranoid lately, but I think anyone who had been through what we had been through would be in this situation. So I was still tense when I took shelter in a rock cave, with purple crystals illuminating it's walls and ceiling.

I pulled out my pistol and my lightsaber. I didn't have the most heavy equipment of all, but at least I had some means of defending myself if I was attacked by someone.

I wanted so badly to get out there and just get it over with. I was so tired of waiting around for things to happen. I wanted to go out there and get rid of the opposition even if it meant endangering myself.

I still knew that it was dangerous of course. I wasn't afraid of dying, cause I knew that both the game's, and my own personal security was of high quality. But I was still worried something bad would happen.

When the neutral faze of the game had finally ended, I took a look outside the cave. A silent breeze rolled over the dessert, the grains f sand picking up and hitting me in the face softly, the wind whispering silently into my ears. It soothed me somehow, the sound of the wind, but I didn't have time to think about it.

I ran across the dessert and began to search for other players. I knew that my opponents had to be strong to have gotten this far, but I wasn't about to back down without a fight. I needed the torture to end. No matter what.

I was suddenly ripped out of my thoughts as I had to jump to the side to dodge a eave of bullets. I growled softly as I rolled behind a rock, my back hitting the hard surface as I took cover. Who the hell had tried to take me out.

I tried to take a peek over the top of the rock to see what I was up against, but I had to duck down immediately to avoid a throwing knife swooshing right past me, even taking a snip of my hair off in the process. The hair landed in my lap and a shiver ran up my spine. Geez, whoever this guy was, he was damn accurate.

I growled silently and looked through my inventory. Had I been as smart as to buy some grenades to help me deal with this guy?

"Damn… Not a single one" I mumbled as I realized I hadn't bought any "How am I supposed to kill him if I can't even come out of hiding!?"

I growled a bit from adrenaline and frustration. I jumped out from my hiding place, looking around to all sides before dashing forward and sliding to avoid another wave of bullets. The bullet storm suddenly came to a halt and I guessed the guy had to reload. This was my chance!

I looked around to all sides and saw a cloak cladded figure stand in the middle of a group of big boulders, having cover from mostly all sides. Maybe it was Deathgun!?

As he reloaded I growled and rushed forward, shooting at him with my pistol to provide cover fire. I didn't have the most confidence in my aiming skills, so as I shot at him I prepared my lightsaber. As he panicked to reload he forgot to dodge my bullets, and I actually managed to hit him in the shoulder and leg, before I reached him and pierced his side with my saber.

A choaked cry of irritated pain left his body but I kept going, ripping my saber through the guy's ribs and out through his side, securing his death and his loss in the tournament. His body collapsed with the huge blood red wound in his side, the message "Dead" soon appearing over his head.

I panted quietly and smirk. First victory. As far as I knew, there was only 48 other competitors left besides me now. I had no way of knowing though. Sinon had informed me that a visual satellite would appear and give a chance to see where everyone was every twenty minutes, but so far, barely 10 minutes had passed of the actual game, so I couldn't check where my next opponent was.

I decided to set my sights at the resting cave that Sinon had told us about, since that was the plan from the start. And besides, I was worried about the girls, so I wanted to make sure that they were okay.

On the way there I met several other players who immediately tried to kill me, but I either managed to escape or kill my opponent without much effort. When I arrived at the cave, I had had seven different encounters, where I had killed three.

When I entered the cave it was still empty, so I decided to sit down and take a break. I had already had my need to get stuff to progress satisfied, so now I wanted to wait here until the girls arrived, or at least until I had calmed down and had a bit of rest for a moment.

"I hope they're doing alright"

~The Western Sea, Asuna's POV~

I was sailing around on the Western sea of the BoB tournament when I was suddenly attacked by several players. I had thought if I wanted to be isolated from the other players, an empty sea of nothing would be the best choice right? Well, about five other players had had the same idea, and now we were each sitting in our own small sail boat, trying to kill each other from afar.

I growled silently as some of the other players turned their attention towards me, and began to shoot at my boat. The boats wasn't system protected, so that meant that the other players could easily sink me if they wanted to. Several bullet holes were created beside me and I flinched from each, before jumping up and shooting back at them with a battlecry.

Me and Sinon had thankfully went in mostly the same direction, and she was trying to provide me with as much covering fire as we could, but it seemed that some of the other players had teamed up as well, and they had some pretty amazing firepower. Among them was that guy Kazuto had been battling in the qualifying tournament, Deathgun.

He seemed to be targeting the other players though, so at least he wasn't against us for the time being. He seemed to be a formidable opponent, quickly taking out some of the heavy based players left and right.

Soon there was only Sinon, Deathgun, me, and another player left, and me and Sinon quickly worked together to push him to his boundaries, and finally kill him, his body falling out of the boat and into the water.

I frowned a bit as Deathgun stood from his position and took a quick glance around at us. He chuckled softly and raised his hand to point it at us.

"Just know girls" he said in a deep tone "that you are not my target. But you better protect Kirito with al your might"

I widened my eyes a bit as he mentioned Kazuto, and I could feel how my body tensed up. Who was this guy? And why was he after Kazuto of all people?

"What do you want to do with Kirito?" I asked angrily "Why are you targeting him!?"

"That is not of your concern" He said, a chuckle escaping him "Let's just say that I have a personal interest in him"

His words was disheartening, worrying and mocking all at the same time. I felt how my feelings welled up inside me, making me want to get over there and force him to tell me what I wanted to know.

It was just a little hard, considering how worn down my boat was from our previous battle. I should have concentrated on keeping it afloat rather than on Deathgun, cause the next second my boat sunk, and I was quickly soaked.

"God dammit" I yelled as I flailed around "My weapons can't handle water!"

Sinon quickly sailed over and fished me out of the boat, but when the commotion fell, Deathgun was already long gone. I growled and coughed up the water that had made its way into my lungs as Sinon helped me onto my feet.

"You okay Asuna?" She asked silently and worriedly.

"I'm fine Sinon, thanks" I mumbled, still irritated that Deathgun escaped "I'm worried about that guy. He's after Kazuto for a reason"

"Just calm down okay?" Sinon said with a calming voice "Kazuto is a brave and smart guy. He knows how to defend himself"

"You saw yourself what happened in the qualifying tournament Sinon" I said as I looked at her "Kazuto lost to that guy. I hate to say it, but he is just a bit stronger than Kazuto is"

She frowned a bit and sighed softly. She knew I was right, I knew I was right. I wanted to go find Kazuto, make sure he was okay. Of course I knew that Deathgun impossibly could make it across the map in the matter of seconds, but I still knew that he would reach him before we did if we didn't do something right now.

Kazuto might be able to hold his own for a while, but not only was Deathgun stronger than him, in about five minutes, Deathgun would have his exact position with help from the map satellite. Luckily, us three had agreed to meet up in the save cave in the dessert if we split, so we might have a slight chance to get there before Deathgun.

I frowned as I looked over at Sinon.

"Sinon, we have to get to that cave" I said with a stern expression "We have to get to that cave before Deathgun"

"What are you even saying Asuna!?" She asked in a loud voice "You do know there are several kilometers between us and that cave right!? Without even mentioning the sea we have to cross and the dessert!"

"Sinon please!" I yelled at her desperately "I have a really bad feeling about that Deathgun guy! And he's after Kazuto! What if something is going to happen!?"

She fell silent and pinched the bridge of her nose, deep in thought, before she sighed softly and nodded.

"Alright, alright. We'll get there soon enough" Sinon said with a sigh "But you better work for it. We need to get there really fast!"

I lighted up a bit as she finally gave in and I hugged her by the neck in joy.

"Thank you!" I almost cried of desperate happiness "We need to get going straight away. We can't let him be alone Sinon, we can't!"

"Alright, alright already!" She said with a laugh "I still think you're overreacting, but love always wins right?"

I chuckled silently and wiped the tears of my cheeks before we began to set sail towards land. To get to the dessert we first had to reach land, and move through the mountains until we reached the central city.

From there we would probably have to battle with several players, and fight our way through the city until we reached the dirt-roads to the south. From there we would have to move towards the dessert in the southeast.

The whole map was about ten kilometers wide and long, no questions there. With the route we had planned here, we had to travel around twenty kilometers to reach the dessert, and another half a kilometer to reach the cave in the middle.

If our calculations and assumptions was correct, we would be there in rough one and a half hour, if we were fast and lucky. And if we thought about the fact that Deathgun didn't know of Kazuto's exact location just yet, maybe we could be lucky to see him move in the wrong direction.

Just as we got to land, a notification for the map satellite popped up on me and Sinon's HUD. We looked through the map, and thankfully, we realized that Deathgun had taken the wrong path, away from the path to the dessert. I smiled softly. We were about a kilometer in front of Deathgun.

"Alright, if we take this path here, we should arrive at the dessert eventually" Sinon said confidently "And luckily we have a head start it seems"

"It seems like it" I said with a smile as we followed the road "I hope we get there first"

"If he catches up to us, we'll meet him on the way there" Sinon said as we ran "He can't get to the dessert unless he wants to bump into us"

"Can't he get in front of us in the city though?" I asked, or yelled maybe "I mean, it's a big place. How do we know he doesn't take another road through the city than us?"

"All of the streets in there run into four main roads" Sinon said as she huffed from running "Each of those go north, south, east and west. If he want to go to the dessert he'll need to take southern road"

"Alright, sounds good" I said clearly.

"Shouldn't we just ambush him at the southern main road?" Sinon asked as we ran with all our might "I mean, then he won't get to Kazuto, and he'll be eliminated as a player in the tournament"

I think that's a bad idea"

"Huh? Why?"

"Because he's stronger than you think Sinon. You might have beaten him once before but he has much more firepower now. He's powered up, and I don't think our efforts are enough"

"So you're saying we should join up with Kazuto before trying to take him down?"

"Exactly. He would have to be superhuman if he could take down three players at the same time"

"That does sound logical, but still. I have a suspicion you want your hero to be there"

"H-Huh!? What makes you say that!?" I yelled, a blush creeping onto my face.

"You know it's true" Sinon said with a teaseful smirk "You want to battle by your hero's side. Isn't that right?"

"N-N-No! That is not my intention at all!"

"Whatever you say girl" She said with a smile "Just make sure to protect him when we get there alright? It's going to be tough to take down our opponents"

My blush slowly died down again and I simply nodded to her statement. It was true, our opponents was powerful, not only Deathgun, but all of our opposition. If we wanted to win in this tournament and lure Sugou out, we'd have to give it our absolute best, and not hold back.

As far as the map told me before, only 43 players was still alive in the tournament, including Sinon, Kazuto, Deathgun and me. That meant that there was still 40 players to take care of, including Deathgun.

I knew it would be tough, but I was still willing to fight. I had been watching on from the sidelines for too long, and this time, I was going to fight too. For my family, my friends, and for myself.

Whatever the cost.

**A/N**

**Hey guys! Thank you so much for reading this weeks chapter!**

**As you guys (Should) know, I have made a twitter account where I discuss and create fanfiction with my readers. I hope you guys check it out, I swear it's worth your time. **

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	34. Chapter 34 - The Ambush

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 34 – The Ambush_

~ALO major city safezone, Yui's POV~

I sighed a bit and hilted my sword as the wolf monsters me and my party had been fighting exploded from the aftermath of our battle. I was trying not to worry about papa and mama, so I had logged into ALO to blow off some steam, and try to distract myself from the topic, but up till now, it hadn't helped one bit. I was as worried as ever.

I sighed a bit as I sat down on a boulder and stretched my arms. My party friends came over and looked at me worriedly.

"Yui, are you okay?" one of my friends, Ryu, asked with worry in his voice "you seem down"

I looked at him with a sad smile. I hadn't really told him or the others about what my parents was going through, since I wanted to keep that thing private for the time being. But I didn't like lying to them.

"Yeah, I'm fine Ryu" I said with a smile "There's just something going on at home… And to respect my parent's privacy, I'd rather not talk about it…"

"I understand" Ryu said with an understanding nod.

I smiled up at him apologetically and nodded. He was about as old as my virtual body would make me seem to be, which would be around 10 to 12 years old, but he was much more considerate than any other 12 year old.

I sighed a bit and stood up from the boulder and stretched again as I looked over at my group.

"Alright, how much more do we need to grind for today?"

"Not much" Rias, our magic support, said with a confident smile "We only need to kill about 10 more of the pack wolfs before we can cash their drop items in and score in cold hard cash"

"Now you mention it," Ryu said with a wondering expression "Are we going to share the cash evenly?"

"Of course we ar-" I mumbled, but I was cut off by Rias.

"I think I deserve most of today's gold though" He mumbled with a pout "I did the most of the work after all"

"Huh!? What are you even talking about!?" Celia, our lancer yelled at the top of her lungs "You're only a supporter! I literally have to stay on the frontline the whole freaking time!"

I sighed a bit and shook my head as I let the others argue about the gold diversion as I walked off away from the group and out onto the grasslands nearby. I felt like being alone right now, so I lied down on the grasslands and tried to relax.

"Papa… Mama…" I mumbled quietly as I closed my eyes "Please, be okay…"

~The BoB tournament, Sinon's POV~

We were currently making our way through the thick jungle like area of the map, with Asuna in front, fully determined to reach the desert before Deathgun. I couldn't exactly see what the big hassle was, I had seen Kazuto's potential first hand. He was certainly no pro, but he wasn't a noob either. I was convinced that he was more than capable to take down Deathgun on his own.

The reason I was against grouping up was simple, a strategic one at that. If we grouped up we would only be an easier target to take down. Sure, we would have each other's backs like we had had up till that point, but we would still be three potential finalists at one place, easy to overrun and take down.

After about 20 minutes of non-stop running, we finally reached the cave we thought kazuto was residing, and carefully stepped inside. Or I was careful anyway. Asuna was a bit panicked, and walked faster and called out for her boyfriend desperately.

"Kazuto! Kazuto are you here!?"

"Heheh, so his name is Kazuto huh!?"

I froze a bit as I heard the new unfamiliar voice. Unlike Deathgun's voice this one didn't seem manipulated or robot-ish at all, so I knew it must have been natural. From the darkness from further inside the cave, the sound of something sliding across the ground soon caught my attention, and I put a hand on my pistol in case something would go horribly wrong.

Asuna and I quickly turned around to run out of the cave again, not wanting to be trapped in there by something, though we stopped in our tracks when we realized it was already too late. Two or three tough looking men was already standing at the cave entrance, blocking our escape. I growled a bit as I realized it had been a trap.

"What the hell do you want from us!?" I asked with an angry snarl.

"Oh that is quite simple actually" soon the man the voice had belonged to stepped out of the shadows "We just want you two to surrender to us, and forfeit the tournament!"

"What!? Why would we do that!?" Asuna snapped at him "Why would we do what you guys tells us!? What keeps us from putting a bullet in the forehead of each of you!?"

"Well, that's where the fun part comes in" The guy said with a sadistic chuckle "For you see, if you hurt me or any of my buddies here, this guy gets it"

I gasped a bit as the thing he had been holding in his grip was now tossed into view from the shadows. It was a lifeless Kirito, face-first in the ground. His clothes was dirty and bloody, and he seemed to have several wounds all over his face and body.

"KAZUTO!"

Asuna screamed at the sight and growled from panic and frustration. I growled angrily as Asuna and I drew our weapons, aiming at the four people who had trapped us.

"Why the hell are you targeting us specifically!?" Asuna demanded as she glared at the person holding Kirito in his collar.

"Quite simple" The man said with a self-satisfied smirk "Sugou has hired us. He wants you and this Kazuto guy gone from the game. We overheard how you were planning to grouping up here, so we decided to come here and wait for you. And look who walked right into our hands!"

The bastard chuckled softly as he lifted Kazuto's lifeless body up in his collar, and shook him a little before tossing

"He's trying to get rid of us…" Asuna snarled angrily "He knows we're coming for him. I swear I will kill at least two of you before I fall myself!"

"hahaha, go ahead and try lady" one of the older men said with a laugh "No matter what happens, you're both dead. Just give it up"

I growled angrily as I took a look around me, and at the situation we were currently in. My intuition had been correct. We were outnumbered and outmatched. Not only were there more opponents than allies, but our opponents had much more incredible firepower than we had, with higher stats and power. That Sugou bastard must have paid his way to most of their equipment.

I slowly shifted my stance so I could get a bit closer to Asuna.

"This is bad Asuna" I mumbled quietly "Any ideas?"

"Plenty, just close your eyes on my command" She mumbled in response.

I looked at her a bit surprised. Despite the cruel situation we were both in, she seemed rather calm and collected. Maybe she did have a plan.

I decided her ability to choose the right decision in the right moment, and nodded at her, just as who I guessed was the leader, called us out.

"Hey! No whispering! Get on your knees, and keep your arms up!"

I growled a bit as I did what the enemy said, but looked up at Asuna surprised as I saw her still standing like she was frozen in place. The leader of the squad growled from impatience.

"Hey, are you deaf or what lady!?" he growled as he stepped towards Asuna aggressively, about to grap at her "I told you to get-!"

He didn't get any longer with his threat. Before he could even finish his sentence Asuna had tossed him over her shoulder, and into the hard stone ground of the cave. The other three was so shocked, since the man was a lot bigger and heavier than her, that she could even pull that self defense move off, that it took some time before they even managed to snap out of it.

When they did though, it was already too late. Asuna had already reached into her belt and pushed the button of a flashbang grenade, tossing it into the middle of the group before closing her eyes and covering your ears.

"NOW SINON!"

I did as she had instructed me. I smirked a bit as I heard the muffled sound of a loud bang and screams from the men, even though I had covered my ears it was still plain to hear. I chuckled a bit and opened my eyes again before pulling my pistol and wasting the three opponents by the entrance to the cave, before finishing off the guy on the ground with a bullet to the forehead.

"No reason to waste ammo on you" I mumbled quietly as I put my pistol back in my belt.

I frowned a bit as I looked over at Asuna, who had picked Kazuto off the ground, and put him to rest against the cold stone wall of the cave. He was still out cold, and heavily hurt, but he seemed to be able to survive if we could just keep him out of danger.

"How is he doing Asuna?" I mumbled quietly as I looked at him.

"He doesn't have that much health left" She mumbled quietly "only about 30 percent or something"

"This is not good" I mumbled quietly "Health does regenerate over time, but instead of healing instantly like in any FPS game, he only regenerates about 10 percent every 20 minutes"

"So 1 percent every 2 minutes" Asuna mumbled quietly and worriedly.

"I'm afraid so" I mumbled in response with a sigh as I looked out through the cave opening "The sun is beginning to set. We should protect him until he wakes up to protect himself"

"Sounds like a plan" Asuna mumbled quietly as she looked over at Kazuto with a worried expression.

I sighed a bit and turned towards the cave opening.

"Maybe we should keep guard or something?" I mumbled quietly as I looked at her over my shoulder "This cave is our best bet of a shelter and we need to stand on guard"

"Good idea" Asuna mumbled quietly as she stood up from her crouched down position "I'll take the first watch"

"Huh!? Wouldn't you much rather be with your boyfriend?" I asked surprised "Normally you can barely stay outside of a three feet radius of him, at least of what I have seen"

"S-Shut up. That's not true" She mumbled embarrassed as her ears turned red "I can't do much for him right now anyway, so might as well try and think about something else"

"Sounds… Reasonable at least" I mumbled quietly as I thought to myself 'Wouldn't staring into space make you think more about it though?'

"Alright, I'm going outside" Asuna said with a sad smile as she patted my shoulder as she passed "Let me know if he wakes up or something, okay?"

"Sure thing" I mumbled quietly, looking after her until she was out of sight.

I looked over at Kazuto with a sigh, and went over to sit beside him. If everything he had told me was true, he had sure as hell been through a lot. It was quite unbelievable what he had told me. I had a hard time believing that humanity could scoop to so low standards for their morale and dignity. Sugou had even tortured the poor guy.

I felt my fists ball up and my frown deepening as I thought about that slimy snake. I couldn't believe how you could get so evil. What had Kazuto done to deserve being treated like that?! The pain he must have had been growing through had to be immense.

At that moment, I looked out of the stone cave to look at the sun, which was currently setting behind the tall sand dunes of the desert outside. I sighed quietly as I watched the spectacular sight. I had always had a certain pull to these kinds of worlds. They seemed beautiful in my eyes, and each game held a unique and different adventure all of their own.

I sighed again as I looked back over at the figure of my new friend. I hoped that once this was all over, we could all go have a proper adventure, one that couldn't put us in any real danger. Asuna and kazuto were the only people I had socialized with, besides Shinkawa, in years, and I wanted to keep them close to me. They had made me smile, which I had found quite hard to do lately to be honest.

I was suddenly ripped out of my thoughts as the lifeless Kirito began to stir back to life, his hands shaking a bit and his breath falling into a shallow moan.

"O-Oh! He's waking up!" I mumbled in surprise, as I stood back up to get Asuna.

I jock-ran outside to fetch Asuna and smiled as I finally reached her.

"I think your boyfriend is waking up" I said with a smile as I clapped her shoulder "Come on in"

The smile that brightened on Asuna's face was a special one to be sure, one I was sure only lovers could have for one another. My thoughts drifted back to Shinkawa briefly, but I shook my head to clear it and ran back inside the cave with Asuna in tow.

She sat down on her legs beside her sleeping black armoured knight, and looked at him with an expression that was a mix between intense worry and intense relief. A small smile grew on her lips as Kirito's eyes stirred open, and he weakly looked up at his girlfriend, a smile growing on his face as he realized who he was looking at.

"Hey…" he mumbled quietly as Asuna took his hand in hers, helping him sit up properly "how long was I out for?"

I wasn't quite sure if he sounded weak or just plain tired, but either way, it was clear that he was exhausted. How hard had he fought those brutes anyway?

"After we found you, about 20 minutes" Asuna mumbled quietly as she planted a kiss on his cheek "Why didn't you just run?"

"I was overwhelmed" He said with a bitter chuckle "Assholes attacked me from behind and knocked me out with a hard blow to the back of the head"

"It doesn't hurt does it?"

"Feels a little irritated, but otherwise it's fine" Kirito said with a reassuring smile "Thanks for your concern Asuna"

I smiled a little at the sweet scene.

"Now, Kirito, we need to fill you in on some things" I said with a smile.

He looked at me quizzingly before I proceeded to explain to him everything we had gone through to save him, plus how we were going to wait here till his HP bar was back to full health, which could still be within the next hour or so. When I finished explaining he nodded understandingly and sighed quietly.

"Guess you guys are stuck with me, huh?"

Asuna frowned a bit at this statement and grabbed Kirito's hand tightly in hers, starring straight into hi eyes without letting him escape.

"You are never a burden, do you understand?"

I looked at her a bit surprised. She had rarely used such a strong tone around me, and she didn't strike me as the type to be strict. Though right now I was looking at a girl that was filled with fire-like determination, a determination said to cheer up her boyfriend, and let him know he could never be a problem for her.

Even he seemed a bit taken aback by her sudden strict manner of speech, and he was about to speak up and protest, when Asuna continued.

"Never a burden" She said, now with a certain gentleness in her voice "We support and help each other out in tough times, right? So stop calling yourself a problem okay?"

Kazuto seemed extremely surprised by the sudden pep-talk, so surprised in fact that he had to have a moment to process everything he had been told. Unable to say anything, he blinked a few times before simply nodding, apparently not finding the ability to speak from surprise just yet.

Asuna's smile grew a bit more and she planted another kiss on his cheek.

"Good" She mumbled, before sitting to his right.

I sat on the other side of him, and smiled silently as I tried to break the silence.

"Alright Kazuto, you need to be as calm as possible now" I said to him "The lower your pulse rate is, the quicker you heal. Just concentrate on relaxing for now, okay?"

"Okay, I'll do that" he mumbled quietly "but what if we are attacked when I'm still healing? SHouldn't I help you guys fight or anything?"

"Nah, we got this" Asuna said with a teaseful expression "We clearly can't depend on your fighting skills since you took such a beating, so letting you help us would only slow us down~"

"Hey! That's not true!" Kazuto burst out in huffy protest "I bet I could kill twice as many as the both of you and still remain unscratched!"

"Sure hun, sure" Asuna said even more teasingly.

We all laughed and fell into conversation, patiently waiting for anything to happen. I have to admit though that I couldn't help but shoot a few glances at the cave entrance. The tournament wasn't over yet and far as we knew, at least Kirito was in danger.

We had to stay on our game. No one could tell what might happen.

**A/N**

**Hey guys! There you have it! Another chapter complete! **

**I hope you guys are excited for what I have in store for you, cause I sure as hell is excited for how you guys will welcome my new story idea. Won't post it just yet though, still have to perfect the choices. Yes, you heard right, choices.**

**Cause if you guys go into my new twitter account right now, you will find a twitter poll that ask you which anime I should do a story on next. Sword Art Online, Corpse Party, or even a third option!**

**Be sure to leave it in the reviews and the twitter comments which anime you want me to do a story about. I'll be happy to listen to your suggestions! **

**Here's the link:** ** /ddm_writing2/status/696308167614062592**

**This is Dragondemolition, signing out!**


	35. Chapter 35 - Red XaXa's Revenge

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 35 – Red XaXa's Revenge_

~The Cave, Kirito's POV~

I groaned quietly and sighed as I lied down on the decently warm floor of the cave. Asuna and Sinon had told me to rest as much as possible, to get back to full health as soon as I possibly could. I was still a bit salty that those guys had managed to overpower me, but there wasn't much to be done in that case. It was four against one, I couldn't possibly have won.

I sighed quietly and closed my eyes. Asuna had come to the rescue, again. Sinon had even helped, though she barely knew me or Asuna at all. Though she was our friend, we hadn't met that long ago. I couldn't believe how much trust she put in us from the get-go.

I smiled quietly and put my arms under my head to support my body pose and began to relax more and more. I felt how my breathing slowed, and a nice feeling of the air I pulled into my lungs reaching all the way out into my body. I was getting refreshed in some sort of sense.

I felt kind of bad to have to rely so much on those two, but it couldn't be helped. First of all, I could barely move when they found me. Second of all, Asuna would have gotten pissed if she found out I was trying to fight my battles alone again.

I always felt a bit nervous when she would fight alongside me, though also reassured. Of course those were natural feelings, with everything we've been through together. I just hoped nothing bad would happen to us.

As I was about to doze off and get some sleep, I heard a yell from outside. It was one of the girls.

I growled in a panic and drew my sword and pistol as I rushed outside. When I reached the outdoors, I widened my eyes a bit. It was Deathgun again! He had located us! He was at this moment fighting off Sinon with a hand pistol in one hand, while holding up my girlfriend by the hair in the other, desperately trying to keep the both of them under control at the same time.

A flare of anger sparked inside me as I saw how he treated Asuna, and I yelled at the top of my lungs as I sprinted forward, my sword raised, ready to slice at him and end it right here, right now. I growled and swung. Missed. He easily dodged and threw Asuna in the sand, stepping backwards with a dark chuckle as he swung his cape, revealing one hell of an arsenal underneath it.

It wasn't enough with him having a sniper on his back, and a pistol by the hip apparently. Underneath his cape it seemed that he was hiding an arsenal of medium and large sized weapons, each one being better equipment than I had ever seen. His equipment was all based on either stealth or quick movement from what I could tell, so it would get extremely tough to kill him.

I growled aggressively and swung at him again and again, but he kept dodging every single swing, chuckling delighted as he toyed around with me. His arrogance only made me more pissed off and more aggressive, so I kept swinging faster, faster, FASTER! Faster all the time. A whirlwind of dust and sand began to whirl around us, as we fought against one another.

As I was pushed back by a simple shove from Deathgun, Asuna and Sinon each covered one of my flanks, jumping out towards him and emptying their magazines in a wave of bullets in an attempt to take our tough opponent down. No use however, as he simply dodged every single bullet, and suddenly disappeared.

I widened my eyes and looked left and right on each of the two girls, but they just looked back at me with a confused expression. Suddenly I felt a stinging irritation in the right side of my back, and it was then I realized that the tip of a plasma sword was sticking out of my chest.

I felt over onto my legs and spit up virtual dark red blood, coughing aggressively as I fell down. The girls soon noticed it and attacked Deathgun again, but he simply vanished again, soon reappearing in front of us with a dark laughter. He looked at us and huffed arrogantly.

"You guys are out of shape" He said with a chuckle "This new equipment is so much better than the usual stuff I use"

"I guess you've gotten an upgrade then" Sinon growled irritated as she and Asuna helped me back on my legs.

I clutched a hand to my new wound and growled at him. Damn he was fast. Really fast. He seemed to be impossible to beat.

"You coward" I mumbled quietly "What do you want with me!?"

"Simple" he said with another dark undertone "I have a boss who's interest in removing you from the market"

"Another hitman from Sugou!?" I widened my eyes and growled "How many has he managed to get into the tournament anyway!?"

"Bitch please" Deathgun said with a laugh "Like Sugou needs proper entrance. He has the resources to hack us way into the tournament"

"H-How does the maintenance team allow this!?" Asuna asked in shock "They should have been alarmed if that was the case"

"Don't you think," Deathgun said as he crossed his arms "if Sugou can hack us into the game, he can also ban the maintenance users? This game is his, as long as you three still exist in here"

"Dammit…" I mumbled quietly "He wants to kill us off without anyone knowing. Less evidence, less witnesses"

"Ohh! We got a smart one huh!?" Deathgun said daringly as he pulled out a pair of plasma swords "Time to finish you off for good"

I couldn't say for sure, but I had a feeling he was smirking behind that mask of his. He was so sure he was going to win that he would only use plasma swords against me at this duel of ours. I growled angrily and drew my own plasma sword, ready to take him on.

"You're on buddy" I mumbled with a frown "Just know I'm going to kick your ass!"

I said that, but I wasn't sure whether or not that was a bluff at this point.

Asuna gripped my arm in her hand as if to hold me back, and she looked into my eyes with a shocked expression.

"Kazuto! Are you insane!? You'll die!" Her eyes watered as she stared at me "You're only at half of your HP too! I forbid you to battle him!"

I frowned quietly and closed my eyes as I looked away from her. I was beginning to doubt whether or not I could actually beat the guy. I had to admit it was a stupid idea to fight him in my current condition, but I could always run away if I was about to die.

"Sorry Asuna" I squeezed her tight in a hug and closed my eyes "But I have a feeling that he has valuable info for us. If I beat him, we could find out where Sugou is"

With this I pulled away from her and stepped back towards Deathgun. Asuna was about to protest and pull me back towards her, but suddenly a rainbow like aura with a diameter of about 10 meters surrounded me and Deathgun, appearing right behind me so Asuna barely missed me.

I widened my eyes and twirled around, hammering my fists onto the barrier. I was only lunged backwards however, and lost about 10 HP. I growled and got back onto my feet, starring angrily at Deathgun.

"What have you done!?" I yelled at him as the grip at my plasma sword tightened.

"No fun in running away right?" He said with a sadistic chuckle "Now, come at me, and let me finally finish this!"

I growled angrily and rushed forward in attack, slashing in a downwards strike. It was a predictable attack, and Deathgun parried it with ease, though this was a part of my strategy.

When he was distracted parrying my slash I ducked downwards and kicked at his feet. He was surprised but only for a second as he jumped backwards, just barely managing to dodge my trip. I growled a bit from frustration. It wouldn't be that easy.

I rushed forward with another strike, he parried, I striked again, over and over and over again, faster all the time. In the middle of our battle he swiftly grabbed my arm by the wrist and held it upwards, completely exposing my chest and abdomen.

I frowned a little in confusion as he turned off his plasma sword, twirling around so it's bottom was exposed to me. I widened my eyes when I realized a huge and razor sharp stinger jumped out from the bottom of the saber.

He chuckled quietly as he then lifted my entire body off the ground and repeated to stab me over and over again with the stinger, in my chest, my arms, my legs, my abdomen, everywhere. I couldn't feel pain, which was a relieve, but I could only watch in terror as my health bar slowly, but surely, disappeared into the bottom grid.

Somewhere behind me I could hear how Asuna and Sinon was desperately trying to break through the barrier, only getting hurt and losing their HP in return. I growled a little from strain as I twisted my body in a weird manner, putting Deathgun off balance. This gave me the opening to kick him across his chin, making him let go of my arm and we both dropped to the ground.

I was getting weaker with each point of HP lost, and Deathgun got to his feet much quicker than me. When I finally got to my feet I barely had strength left to stand, and I was panting in exhaustion as I stared at my opponent in weak anger.

I hissed quietly from desperation and looked back at Asuna and Sinon. Maybe this really was it? No, I couldn't think like that. If I did, the battle was already lost. I had to keep trying. I couldn't give up.

I took a look around at my battlefield and widened my eyes when I finally realized a way to beat him. Yes, that was it. A couple of rocks and boulders was standing in our battlefield, giving us slight cover space if we needed it. Though that was not what I wanted to use them for.

"Hey Deathgun, can I ask you something?" I said with a soft smile.

He seemed a bit surprised by my sudden question and attitude when he clearly had me on the ropes. Though he simply shrugged his shoulders and complied to my wish.

"As you wish, though make it quick" he mumbled irritated as he crossed his arms over his metal chest.

"What kind of gun are you using?" I asked shortly "Beam or bullet?"

"huh!?" Now he was surprised for real, though I didn't blame him "Why the hell does that matter!?"

"Cause you see!" I said with a small chuckle as I took aim at the boulder "If you use bullets, they bounce back!"

I aimed and used the prediction lines to figure out a path for the bullet. I smirked and pulled the trigger, and soon the bullet used it's surroundings to swish all around Deathgun, making him twirl around himself in confusion in an attempt to keep an eye on it, and at the same time dodge it.

I smirked as I got another precious opening and dashed forward, jumping into the air as I activated my sword.

"hhhhhaAAARRRRGGGHHH!"

A swing of a sword, the sound of metal against metal. It felt like time stood still. In one moment it had seemed like I had actually hit him. I widened my eyes as fragments of metal flew everywhere around both me and him, and I landed on the ground with a grunt.

He was standing with his back to me, standing completely still. Soon I saw the face mask he had worn fall down into the sand, it's edges glowing a bright orange from heat. He fell to his knees in shock, and I thought I had killed him, but he simply breathed quietly, trying to overcome his shock. I had only managed to cut off the mask fading his face.

Though at least now, I could at least have a look at the guy that had chased me for some time. His avatar looked a little older than mine, someone who was maybe 18 or 19. He had a few grey hairs sticking out from the metal imprisonment of his mask, and he had light brown eyes.

I was slightly startled and jumped a bit in place when I suddenly heard Sinon shout from the other end of the barrier.

"HUH!? Kyouji!?"

The tall man simply sighed and hanged his plasma sword on his belt, and crossed his eyes over his chest.

"Damn…" he mumbled quietly and regrettably "You weren't supposed to see me like this, Shino"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, WORKING FOR SUGOU!?" She asked furiously "Don't you know how dangerous he is!?"

"Of course I know!" the man, apparently named Kyouji, said with anger in his voice "But this little shit is dangerous as well!"

He said this as he pointed an accusing finger at me.

"Do you even know how many he's killed!?"

She fell quiet and I looked back at her, wanting to see how she would react.

"I don't believe you!" She yelled.

She banged her hands onto the barrier, not even caring that each hit was reducing her HP.

"How do you even know Kazuto, huh!?" She yelled accusingly.

"HE KILLED MY BROTHER SHINO!"

I widened my eyes quietly and looked up at him shocked. I had only ever killed in SAO, and that list of people was short, and caused by self defense. Included on the list was several members of The Laughing Coffin, Heathcliff, and Kuradeel, and as far as I knew, none of them had siblings. But of course I never knew any of those people personally, so I wouldn't know.

"I see you seem a little confused Kazuto" The man said with an angry huff "Let me remind you of the genius that was Red Eyed XaXa, my brother, Shouichi"

Again, I widened my eyes in shock. I never knew Red Eyes XaXa, the leader of The Laughing Coffin, had a brother.

"W-What? Kyouji, you have a brother?" Sinon asked in confused shock "how does that fit into any of this!?"

"Well, you see Shino," He said as he glared at me and Asuna angrily "That bastard killed him by his own blade. Three years ago, in SAO"

He closed his eyes as if he was reminding himself of the event before he continued his story.

"He was a good guy in the real world, truly he was" Kyouji mumbled with a frown "He never picked fights with me, or our parents. He always appreciated what others did for him.

But when he was trapped in SAO, something changed. You see, my parents had never told me anything about it, but I knew it none the less. He had a serious medical condition, a Multiple personality Disorder, MPD.

He would rarely ever let his condition show in the real world. To everyone around him, he seemed like a perfectly normal high school boy with a perfectly normal life.

But when he went online to play, when he emerged himself in games, he became a completely different person. He went from kind and caring, to coldblooded and bloodthirsty. The first time I played with him, I could barely contain my shock from this drastic change.

But in the back of my mind I still loved him. I only ever interacted with the kind brother I knew, the brother I considered the real one. The cold person he was online, boiled down to only being an avatar.

And I knew he didn't do anything like that on purpose. Even when the doctors told me he had killed several people in SAO, I still hung on to hope. To have my brother back was the only thing I ever wanted. I didn't want to remember him as a cruel murderer.

But then that dreadful day came. His heart monitor suddenly began beeping faster and faster, until the beeping had no pause. I knew that he had been killed, but not by who.

So after the players escaped, I dug into whatever history code I could find from the game, and I found several video files from the day that the Knights of The Blood raided my brother's and his guild's hideout. He and two of his friends were killed, all three by the tip of Kirito's blade.

Those video files made me resolute. I became determined to find my brother's killer, and get revenge. Up until recently, when Sugou approached me, I just thought a proper beating would be enough. But he quickly convinced me to kill Kirito, for both of our interests"

I didn't want to admit it, but I kind of knew what Kyouji was talking about. I had had those kinds of feelings before as well, whenever Sugou would seem to enter our lives again. I had wanted to hurt and kill him so bad for hurting Asuna, and my friends and family. I felt like a small part of the sympathetic me died every time I had those kinds of thoughts.

None of us said anything for the longest time, before Kyouji decided to continue.

"I'm sorry you had to find out this way Shino" he mumbled as he glared at me "But now, before I regret anything, I will finish what I came here to do"

And with those final words he charged forward with a roar, determined to finish what he had started.

**A/N**

**AAAAaaand, there you guys go. Another chapter complete.**

**It got kind of dark in the end huh? How do you guys feel about me twisting Red XaXa's back story that way? Was it a good idea, or is it worthy of the trashcan?**

**Please let me know in the review section. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.**

**See you guys next week!**


	36. Chapter 36 - Red XaXa's Retribution

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 36 – Red XaXa's Retribution_

~Kirito's POV, BoB tournament~

I widened my eyes as Kyouji rushed forward and slashed at me relentlessly. His aggression towards me and what I had done could be felt in every blow, every slash and stab into my defenses being harder and harder. I was barely even able to hold onto my plasma sword as he unleashed barrage after barrage of deadly attacks towards me.

I couldn't keep up and I constantly either slipped or was knocked back, and several times he even knocked me onto the barrier. When I was then launched back towards Kyouji, he would slam me back against the barrier, almost making me a human ping-pong ball. To top it all off, every time I hit the hard wall of the barrier, I lost 10 HP every time I was launched back, even if I managed to block Kyouji's attacks.

I frowned and duck to dodge his next vertical attack. It took him off guard and I managed to somersault out of the trap he had set for me, and I shot a few shots at his back as he was still recovering from the earlier shots. This knocked him a bit off balance and I rushed forward and slashed him across the back.

He grunted and growled as he spun around, not giving me a chance to continue my attack. He slashed at me and I dodged, before slashing at him again. He crossed his swords over his chest and blocked, my blade only inches from stealing his nose from his face.

We both grunted and hissed at each other as we pushed our swords against each other, trying to break the other's defense and put one of us off balance. I was a tiny bit stronger than him though, as he had put most of his stat points into AGI. I managed to push him backwards far enough and then break the pushing, giving him a few quick stabs to the gut followed by a foot in his knee.

He fell to one leg and looked up at me with an aggressive scowl, but before I could finish him off with a downwards slash he rolled out of the way, slashing away at the tendon in my left foot. I grunted from slight pain and fell backwards, and crawled away from him. Damn, it had seemed like I was able to finish him off.

I crawled away and desperately clawed my weapons close to me as I tried to stand back up, but there was no hope. I could no longer use my left leg, due to my injury. I hissed and backed against a rock, looking over at Kyouji from afar. He smirked and laughed manically as he stared over at me with a content expression.

"Finally I got you" he spit through his front teeth "Time to say goodbye"

I frowned quietly and looked down at the injury in my foot. Damn, this really was it. It was highly unlikely that I could beat him now. I couldn't even use one of my legs.

"Kyouji, you do know that if you finish him off now, you might as well turn yourself in to the police, right?"

Sinon suddenly spoke up with a cold tone in her voice, and both me and Kyouji looked at her in surprise.

"huh?! What the hell are you talking about?"

"You may have forgotten, but…" Sinon said with a heavy sigh "the new update of GGO let's any player record his or her battles… If you kill him, I have video evidence"

He growled angrily as he stared at Sinon.

"Sinon, why are you doing this!?" he asks pleadingly "I'm doing this to get rid of a threat! Who knows who he might kill!?"

"Kyouji, you're in denial!" Sinon retaliated "If your brother truly was that stone cold in the games as you say he was, who's saying Kirito didn't act in defense!?"

"Shut up!" He screamed, denying everything "That's not true! My brother would never kill! He wasn't cold! He didn't deserve to die!"

"Even so, do you think Kirito should have just let him kill him!?" Sinon yelled "He has people who love him as well! Should they just live on knowing someone killed him as well!?"

"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" he screamed loudly, holding his head "My brother did not deserve to die! Kirito was the one taking him from me!"

"Kyouji, listen to me" Sinon frowned as she stared holes into Kyouji "Kazuto has a family too. If he had died, he had had a lot of people he would leave behind. They would also feel all the emotions you went through. Do you really want someone else to go through that?"

He sobbed quietly and fell to his knees, and I quickly moved away from him in case he would explode in anger or something.

"No.. I don't want that…" He whispered quietly, his emotions finally getting to him "Alright, I won't kill him…"

He snapped his fingers with a regretful huff and soon the barrier around me and him disappeared. Asuna sprinted in and hung herself around my neck by her arms. I swung my arms around her and hugged her protectively. I was relieved I was able to hold her in my arms again.

"I was so worried…" She mumbled quietly, before turning towards Kyouji with an angry huff "I'm going to kill you, you bastard!"

She raised herself off the ground and drew her weapons, stomping towards Kyouji in a rage. He whimpered quietly, Asuna's temper bending even the strongest man, but as Asuna was about to blow him full of lead, Sinon stepped in-between them and blocked her away.

"Sinon!? What the hell are you doing!?" she yelled at her angrily "This bastard almost killed Kazuto!"

"That might be true, but we need him" She frowned back at Kyouji "As much as I want to kick his ass too, he might know where your target is. He might help us get to Sugou!"

Asuna hissed from anger and put her weapons away as she glared at Kyouji with a look that could kill.

"if he tries anything, he's dead" She warned the both of them as she turned to walk back towards me "Here, let me help you up"

If it wasn't for her helpful demeanor I would have been scared of her intense anger, though that thought quickly vanished as she helped me back to my feet, slinging my arm around her shoulders as she supported my body weight. I smiled quietly as she helped over to sit against a small formation of boulders.

I groaned quietly as I pulled my leg up under me and looked at the wound in my tendon in my ankle. I could see how the wound was healing pixel after pixel, though it would still take a while before I could walk.

"Well, we'll have to wait here until Kazuto is healed" Asuna said with an angry frown "We can't really get anywhere if he can't stand straight"

I felt a bit guilty, though her anger was mostly pointed at Kyouji.

I was a bit of dead weight right now, though it wasn't really a matter of time right now. Even if we wanted to pursue Sugou we would need to win the BoB tournament first if we wanted to pursue him in here. I could only assume that he hadn't participated in the tournament himself, which would be a pretty stupid move if he planned to trap us in here.

I looked up at Asuna and Sinon with a smile. It was wonderful to know that no matter how much of a down weight I was, they would always be there to protect me. No matter of a dead weight I would be, they would never leave me. Though in Asuna's case I had known it for a long time, it was wonderful to know that I had gained a new ally in Sinon, who would do the same for her friends as Asuna would for me.

After we had gotten all of this mess cleared up, I would make sure to introduce her to my friends.

After about half an hour my ankle and other wounds were mostly healed, to the point where I could actually stand on my feet. I smiled a bit and stretched as the moon began to rise over the desert, making it biting cold rather than burning hot. I wrapped my coat a bit tighter around myself to protect mself from the warmth.

"Alright, what's next?" Asuna asked with a serious frown.

"Well, Sugou has of course not entered the tournament" Kyouji said with a frown "So we have to get out of the tournament if we want to get after him"

"That makes a lot of sense" I mumbled quietly "alright, first, we'll go after the other players. Then, if we all survived until then, we'll meet in the city zone of the map. From then on we'll figure out what to do"

"Sounds like a plan" Sinon said "Do we split up, or?"

"If we do we can cover more ground" Kyouji said with a his arms crossed over his chest "But if we stay together we have a greater chance of survival"

"I think we should stick together" Asuna mumbled with a serious expression "Even if Sugou tries to flee he will run straight into the police's hands"

"Huh? Really?" I looked at her surprised. What did she mean by that?

"Well, they didn't tell you Kazuto, but," Asuna said with a smile "Remember when you talked to the head of SAO security a couple of days ago?"

"yeah, he told me they had found Sugou's hideout"

"That's right. But what he only told me is that, in case Sugou would flee from GGO, they had surrounded his hideout. Even if he tries to flee, he'll run straight into custody"

"Man, why wouldn't he tell me such an important detail?!" I mumbled irritatedly "All that worry of him fleeing for nothing"

"He told me he had forgotten"

"God dammit"

I couldn't help but facepalm at his bad memory, but I sighed and decided to let it slide.

"Whatever, let's just get going guys" I mumbled, trying to change the subject as the others chuckled at my misfortune "I don't want to stay in here anymore than I want to"

"Agreed, let's get out of here" Asuna said worriedly "When is the next satellite coming?"

"In about 20 minutes" Sinon said with a frown "Though last time I checked, there was about 11 players left, and three players right nearby to the southeast of here"

"Since we're four here, maybe we should target those three" Sinon said with a strategizing expression "And if they're not even in a team, we can take each of them out easily"

"That sounds like a good idea actually" I said with a wry smile "This will be so much easier if we team up against the rest of the competitors"

"Alright, let's head Southeast then" Kyouji mumbled as he reloaded the weapons he had used against me earlier "It would be even better if we attacked them when they were fighting. You know, put them off guard"

"Alright, let's discuss that when we actually arrive there" Sinon said with an irritated expression.

It seemed she was raring to go, and to be honest, I was tired to just stand around and do nothing as well. I wanted to get going as much as she did.

She punched kyouji's arm irritated, our rambling being the reason and him being the nearest target, but he simply responded with a chuckle and a rub of her hair, which, given her personality, of course resulted in a deep blush from her, before we set out towards the Southeast.

~Sugou's POV, Hideout in major city~

"Dammit. That damn sellout"

I threw the monitor across the room. Kyouji that little bastard. He had sold me out to those assholes.

"Well, no way to prevent it now" I tried to console myself and regain my cold façade "I have no other place to run to. Might as well just meet them head on"

"Huh?" my assistant looked up at me with a start "That seems much unlike of you sir. To face them that is"

I couldn't help but feel a little offended at this, but for once I let it slide. He was too insignificant anyway to get mad over.

"Well, just take a look at this" I said with a smirk as I opened my maxed out weapon cabinet "I have the firepower to take them, plus the stats. And besides, if everything goes south, I can just hack my way out of the game. Simple as that"

My assistant looked at me insecurely but I didn't care. He didn't matter. The only thing that did matter was my own safety.

I began to gear up, grabbing some of the best equipment I could find, before looking over at my assistant again.

"So? Are you coming or what?"

He jumped a bit and nodded quickly before following me to the outside door. Time to face the danger I guess.

I smirked quietly as we stood at the main entrance to our hideout. If they were looking forward to die, I would gladly grant them all that wish. My only goal was to make my way back into the Yuuki family. Even if I had to create false evidence of market cheating against Asuna's father, or physically threaten them with my weapons, the means wasn't important.

Their many millions would be mine, even if I had to steal them right out of their puny little hands. I didn't even care about that bitch to Asuna anymore. She could die somewhere for all I cared. If I had to threaten to kill her to get what I wanted, I would do it.

My goal would come true, no matter the cost. But first, I had to get the biggest obstacle out of the way. Kazuto Kirigaya. No matter what I had done to get him out of the way for the past two years, he would either get back at me, or escape death somehow. But not this time.

If I didn't manage to kill him this time, he would get me arrested. I already knew that my hideout in the real world was surrounded, so this was my last chance. One of us would lose.

And I would make sure it wouldn't be me.

~An hour later, The jungle zone, Kazuto's POV~

"Alright, as far as I can see here" I mumbled as my group and I gathered around the virtual map from the overhead satellite "We are now the last four players in the tournament"

"Seems like it" Sinon said with a nervous frown "So, how do we do this? Do we just kill each other off?"

"It would almost seem like it, right?" I mumbled quietly as I looked around at the three others "It would save both time and energy if we simply killed each other out"

"Well, I'll go first then" Kyouji said as he stepped forward towards Sinon, his arms out to the sides "Go on Sinon, finish me off"

She was taking a bit aback as she stared at Kyouji for a moment.

"Huh? Why you?" She asked surprised as she pulled out her pistol.

"I need to pay back for attacking you guys so violently" he mumbled with an apologetic smile "I guess letting you pump me full of lead is a decent start, hmm?"

"I think I deserve that honor more than Sinon does" Asuna said with a glare as she pulled out her weapons as well "You DID, try to kill MY boyfriend after all"

"U-Uhm, Asuna-san, no reason to be aggressive" he said with a wry smile, his nervousness visibly painted in his expression.

"No reason huh!? Here, let me give you one!"

Before any of us could even blink she had put a bullet between his eyes and his character collapsed, dead. E and Sinon quickly fell silent before Sinon pulled her pistol to her neck and pulled her tricker. The sound of the bullet made me jump slightly in my tracks from surprise. I guess she wanted to end herself before the vicious side of Asuna could get a grip on her.

Me and Asuna stood for a moment and watched Sinon's lifeless body, before taking a frightened look on each other. We soon broke off into laughter though and fell into a tight embrace with each other.

"To be honest, I think Sinon deserved the title of winner" I mumbled with a smile "She had really hoped to win the tournament too"

"I guess she chickened out at the last second" Asuna said with a sly smirk "but now it's only you and I left"

She raised her weapon a bit, a feeble look on her face.

"I don't really feel great having to shoot you" I mumbled quietly.

"Well, there is a single way we can end this at the same time" She said with a smile "Sinon taught me this little trick earlier. Here, give me your hand"

I wondered what the hell she was doing? I just shrugged and gave her my hand as she asked, before she pressed something round down into it and pressed a button on it. I widened my eyes as I realized what it was, and I almost fell on my rear. It was a grenade!?

"W-Woah, what the, w-WARGH!"

As I stumbled around with the grenade between my hands like an idiot, Asuna giggled and threw her arms around me before kissing me deeply, freezing my movements. I hesitated a bit before smiling and wrapping my own arms around her, and kissing her back before a blinding light surrounded us.

And everything disappeared in dark.

A/N

Hey guys, I hope you liked this weeks chapter!

I really want to thank you guys for your support really. Not only has "A Forbidden Love" received more support on a chapter than anything else I've ever done before, but I'm also noticing that we've almost reached a hundred followers and almost just as many favorites on "After The Incident"

I can't believe we've come this far, and it's all thanks to you guys. You are amazing, and I don't know if I had continued this if it wasn't for you.

If you guys want to hear more from me and future updates of the chapters and stories I do, you can follow and tweet me at twitter, ddm_writing2 I hope I'll see you guys there as well.

Again, thank you guys so much. I don't know what I would do without you.

See you next week guys! Peace out!


	37. Chapter 37 - The Tortured's Revenge

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 37 – The Tortured's Revenge_

~GGO main city, spawn point. Kirito's POV~

I opened my eyes slowly as I felt the ground materialize below my feet. I looked around me and smiled a little in relief when I saw Asuna standing a bit to my left, having a small smile at her lips as she looked back at me. I smiled and reached over to take her hand.

"We're so close now Asuna" I mumbled quietly as I squeezed her hand a little "As soon as we've caught that bastard, we can finally begin to relax"

"I know, I look forward to it" She nodded and sighed "Too bad we have to go back to school when we're done here. I think we could both really use a vacation"

"I look forward to that" I said with a chuckle "I think we should stay home though. I feel like we've been ignoring our friends lately"

"Yeah, I know they're frustrated they're not allowed to help" Asuna said with a small sigh "Liz seemed a bit frustrated back at the hospital actually, did you realize that?"

"Yeah, she seemed down about something" I mumbled, rubbing my chin in thought "She seemed desperate to tell us something too, though that is just a feeling from me at this point"

"Hmm, I didn't see that" Asuna mumbled thoughtfully "There's no reason to dwell on that right now though. We should focus more on The Parasite for now you know"

"Yeah, I know, you're right" I mumbled with a sigh "It's frustrating how much we need to go through though"

Asuna smiled a little and nodded before standing a bit closer to me.

"It's worth it if it's for you though"

"You are buttering me up too much" I said with red cheeks and a chuckle "But, I feel the same way about you, you know that right?"

"Of course I do hun" She said with a smile as she squeezed my hand "You wouldn't be willing to go through all of this if it weren't for my sake. You've told me yourself, right?"

"That's true, though I want to make sure you know"

"I know hun. I know"

She said this as she leaned up and kissed my cheek, and I blushed quietly and hummed in satisfaction as she pressed her lips onto my cheek.

"You are the sweetest woman I know"

"And you are the sweetest guy. Let's protect each other when we finally confront this bastard, okay?"

"Sounds like a plan"

Just as we promised each other that, Sinon approached us from further down the street, with Kyouji trailing after her with a small smile.

"It seems we should come back later Kyouji" Sinon said with a teaseful smirk "Love is in the air"

"Shut up Sinon" I said with a glare "Am I not allowed to love my girlfriend?"

"Of course, I just didn't know you'd planned to glue her to your body"

She jabbed at how close we we're physically, but I didn't care at that moment. I was starting to get tired of everything that my girlfriend and I had been going through in the last one and a half year, and I was beginning to lone for some closeness with my girlfriend, which was the reason I snapped back at Sinon a bit more harshly than I intended.

Though luckily, she didn't take offend to my snapping, but simply shrugged and laughed the situation off.

"Alright, serious time guys" Kyouji said with a serious expression "Sugou's hideout is in the slums of this city. We have to hurry if we want to catch him before he flees"

Everyone nodded at him in seriousness and began walking. I frowned quietly as we moved through the buzzling streets, people congratulating Asuna from left and right of winning the BoB tournament. I really wished for them to leave us alone though, since we really didn't have time for this in the first place. Though that does not mean I didn't appreciate their congratulations.

When we finally reached the slum part of the city, we could instantly feel how the atmosphere around us changed into something creepy. The surroundings quickly got darker, dirtier, and even the background music of the game turned into dark and creepy violin tunes.

When we walked through the slum streets, dark and creepy glares was sent our ways from players and CPU's alike, and I could instantly feel how a rush of cold run down my spine just at the thought of what could possibly be going on around these parts of town.

Soon we reached a bit more open plaza of the slums, and Kyouji turned around to stop us in our tracks.

"Alright guys, there's only a few more streets until we're there" Kyouji mumbled "Weapons at the ready. Even I don't know how much my boss is capable of, so who knows what might happen"

I nodded quietly and pulled out my sword and pistol. It was true, that since Sugou could hack the game currently, no one knew what he could possibly be capable of. If he was able to physically and psychologically scar me back in ALO, who knew what he would do to me and my friends if we pressed his buttons in the wrong way?

I frowned and looked around at the others to see if they were ready, and when they nodded we began to walk down the street once again. After a while we finally approached the hideout, and I could physically feel how the anger in my stomach rise as I saw the source of all of my pain and suffering, stand casually and chatting with a man in a suit outside a tall building. Sogou was in my line of sight.

I growled angrily and pulled back in my pistol to load it and get it ready, before storming up to Sugou and gribbed his collar, slamming him against a nearby building's wall.

"You are so dead you son of a bitch!" I hissed into his ear as I pressed my gun into the small space behind his jawbone, making him whimper in pain. I was so blinded with rage that I barely even noticed the others walking up on either side of me.

"Give me one reason not to splatter your brain-matter on this damn wall!" I shouted into his ear, blinded with my bloodthirsty want for revenge.

"I have no reason" Sugou said with a whimpering chuckle "Give in to your emotions, go ahead. Let loose the darkness within you"

I had a really hard time not killing this guy off instantly. He was basically trying to sound like a damn NPC, when I confronted him. He didn't take me seriously at all, and he didn't think that I could hurt him, which was pretty true in this situation. No one knew what I was going to do to him when we got out of the game though, not even myself at this point.

I pulled him away from the wall and threw him to the street, before looking over at Asuna and Sinon.

"Alright guys, I need you to look out after Sugou as I log out" I mumbled, getting ready to do so "I need to inform the police that we have him within our custody"

"Alright, we'll look out for him" Sinon said and frowned down at Sugou with disgust in her expression.

I quickly logged out and called Kikouka, the head of Sword Art Online Victims Rescue Unit, to tell him that we had finally caught Sugou. He sounded quite delighted, and told us that he would force a log out for both me, Asuna and Sugou, very soon.

I logged back into the game, and a horrible sight met me. I widened my eyes as I saw Sugou standing above Sinon, who was sprawled across the brick street as Sugou himself held a machine-gun against her, while the man he had been talking to kept Asuna pinned in a corner. Somehow, in the less than 2 minutes I had been gone, they had managed to overwhelm the girls and immobilize them both.

He smirked and turned around to face me, an insane look across his face as he dashed forward in a flash and slammed me towards a wall across the street, resulting in all of the air of my lungs quickly.

"Hehe, you are weak you little insignificant bastard" he mumbled with a smirk as he tried crushing my throat with his arm "I will go with you, on one condition,"

I could barely even respond him as he held an arm against my Adam's apple.

"W-What is… That?"

"Beat me one on one, and I will log out voluntarily."

"What keeps me from forcing you to log out?" I grumbled and tried to force him off of me to breathe "The police is onto you, you know…"

"Oh well, I have an answer for that too" He said with another smirk "If you guys force me to log out, every last player online now, is dead."

I widened my eyes as I heard that. I hadn't realized he might even have hacking capability to harm other people than Asuna, and myself. But now that I thought about it, if he was able to hack our accounts so only we and his henchmen would be in the BoB tournament, what held him from hacking every last player in GGO, and kill them if necessary?

"You bastard…" I growled as I tried to kick free of his grip "You won't get away with this."

"Well, that might be true, but" He said with a sadistic smile "At least, if I go to jail after this, at least I will have the satisfaction of knowing I will have taken you down with me"

"You're sick dude" I grumbled as he finally let go of my throat, letting me breathe.

I coughed a few time as precious air finally began filling my lungs again, and I glared up at him as I got back to my feet.

"Kazuto, you're not serious here, are you?" Asuna asked as she hurried over to me to get me away from Sugou "You don't seriously want to accept his duel, right?"

"Asuna, I have no choice!" I looked at Asuna in desperation "If I don't do this, innocent people will die because of it! I can't run away anymore! I have to confront him!"

Asuna frowned quietly and gripped my arm to pull me away to get some privacy. As Sinon and Kyouji tried to follow after us, Sugou pointed his weapons at them with a smirk.

"Don't you dare. Kazuto needs to convince his nagging girlfriend to let me kill him"

I growled angrily at his words and wanted to turn around and decapitate his head right then and there, but I strengthened my resolve and let me be pulled a bit further down the alley to let Asuna try to talk some sense into me, which I at this point was determined to not let happen.

I pulled her towards me and cupped her face in my hands.

"Asuna, listen to me" I whispered as I looked deep into her eyes.

I could see in her facial expression that she knew that I was right, and that frustrated her beyond recognition. She had always wanted to be by my side, to help me fight my battles, but at this time, if I wanted to save everyone from that psychopath, if I wanted just the slightest chance at a normal life, I had to take him on alone. And I had to admit that the thought scared me.

"Asuna, you have to let me do this" I mumbled as I held her close to me "if I don't do this, innocent people are going to die. They've done nothing wrong."

"You've done nothing wrong either," Asuna mumbled as she looked up at me, teary-eyed "You've never done anything but love and protect the people around you… This is not fair…"

"I know hun… I know"

I could only stand there and hold around her to comfort her for now. I felt so guilty because of all the worry I had had to put her through. But, if I could finally manage to bring Sugou to his knees, it would finally be over. Then I could finally focus on my future with my girlfriend, what I wanted to do with myself, and I could finally focus on loving the people around me.

All of those things had felt like a distant dream the last 2 years or so. I felt like I could never get to love Asuna, not when Sugou kept haunting me in the back of my mind. I knew I loved her, but all those wonderful feelings was cut short as soon as Sugou returned to my dreams, my thoughts or even in real life. He had haunted me and my family for too long, and it was finally time to pay him back.

I smiled and took Asuna's hands in mine, squeezing them a little before giving her a small kiss on her forehead.

"I'll see you on the other side, okay?" I mumbled quietly as I leaned my forehead against hers.

She smiled and hummed "Yes" In response, a single tiny tear rolling down her cheek as we embraced, possibly for the last time.

I knew Sugou wanted to kill me, that much had been clear for a long time now. What I couldn't comprehend was how a man could get as evil as he had been to me and my family. He had done nothing but threaten his way to the top, and now that someone denied him something he wanted, he had hurt so many people to get what he wanted.

I can't say that I didn't want to kill him badly as well. All the pain and suffering he had inflicted on me and my family, had began to make me feel absolute hatred towards him, make me want to kill him just as badly as he wanted to kill me. to be completely honest I had rather seen him in the ground than in jail, but to protect my future and the happiness of the people I loved, I knew that wasn't possible.

I was going to fight though. To fight for my girlfriend, for my family, for my friends. For the happy future I wanted to secure, for the safety of Yui, Asuna and both our families. I was going to protect them, rather than bring them danger.

I was going to finish it. Once and for all.

I looked over at Sugou with a frown as I approached him. I stood right opposite of him, my head maybe reaching the top of his chest. It irritated me that he was bigger than me, which might be an advantage for him if he manage to pin me down or something of the sort.

"Alright Nobuyuki, choose an area I can beat you in"

I hadn't meant to talk smack to him, but to be honest, I didn't care. I just wanted to get it over with.

"Hehe, you seem confident you little bastard" He said with a smirk as he looked down at me "Alright, brace yourself. This is the last time you see your precious girlfriend"

I took one last glance back at Asuna, and sent her a smile, before a beam of light teleported me and Sugou to the designated area, the area where we would seal each other's fates.

As we arrived at the area after about 20 seconds of loading, me and Sugou stood in the middle of something that resembled a ruin of an ancient Egyptian city, hieroglyphs adorning the wall and huge pillars holding up whatever was left of the old sandstone buildings. We took a final glance at each other before sprinting forward with each our own battlecry.

I growled and drew my plasma sword, and at the same time Sugou drew a pair of his own black swords, swinging them towards my head. I widened my eyes a bit and ducked before kicking at his legs, in response he jumped and tried to slash downwards at me with his swords. I only just managed to roll out of the way, a small lock of hair cut off and lying where I was lying only a few milliseconds ago.

I twirled around in a circle and pulled my pistol, quickly emptying the magazine at him. He smirked and simply deflected the bullets with his sword, like it was the easiest thing in the world. I feared that he wouldn't be that easy, but I didn't want to think it as possible.

"Hmph, you're not too shabby Kirigaya" he said with a smirk "Of course, you have basically no chance to beat me with these amazing stats I have"

"Hmph, we'll see about that Nobuyuki" I said with a frown ""I'll show you my will to protect the world from a psychopath like you!"

I dashed forward again and reloaded my gun, aiming to the best of my abilities. This was the final battle. And I was sure as hell not going to lose it.

**A/N**

**I can't believe it, but somehow, I got through this week's chapter of After The Incident. Because of a writer's block I could barely even write Monday and Tuesday. I'm getting slobby XD**

**Anyway, thank you guys. I am so grateful to all of you, since now we have hit a 100 followers on After The Incident. It's incredible how far we've managed to get together, and I can't express enough how much it means to me to open up my computer, go on this website, and find so many warm and praising messages that guys take time out of your schedule to leave. Seriously, thank you so much.**

**I hope we can continue this much longer into the future. See you next week guys.**


	38. Chapter 38 - Sugou's Final Fight

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 38 – Sugou's Final Fight_

~Kazuto's POV~

I growled angrily as Sugou sent me flying backwards away from him with a powerful swing of his sword. I didn't want to admit it but he was incredibly strong. If I compared his skills to the last time my friends had faced him in ALO, he must have had at least risen with 20 levels of experience.

I growled furiously as I dashed forward again and again, slashed at him, shot at him, desperately tried to kill the bastard that had hurt me, that had hurt my family, tortured both me and my friends on a physical and psychological level. I wanted to hurt him just as badly as he wanted to end my life, and no chance in hell I was going to let him hurt any more people.

His defense was impossible to break through though. Every time I tried to slash, he simply dodged. Every stab from my sword or shot from my pistol was blocked with his plasma swords. Sparks of red flew everywhere every time our swords met, and he was impossible to hit.

I became more and more frustrated and panicked. He seemed impossible to beat. How was I going to beat him!?

I was sent flying backwards once again and I growled as I hit the ground, hard. My body began aching all over. We had been battling for about 20 minutes now, and I began to feel how tired I had actually become. In the meantime, he seemed like someone who could take a nap out of boredom at any minute now.

"You are so weak Kazuto" He said with a smirk as he yawned loudly "Come on, give me a challenge! This is way too EASY!"

At easy, he dashed forward with a smirk, disappearing at the blink of an eye. I widened my eyes and looked around, soon feeling all the air leaving my lungs as I felt a blow to my stomach. Then a blow to the back. Then the angle. He was so fast that I couldn't even see what he was doing.

He knocked me around with bone-crushing blows. I stumbled around and tried to find my balance, but every second I felt another crushing punch or kick to my body. At some point I ended up lying on the ground, on my back, and suddenly Sugou appeared over me with a smirk.

"Just accept this fact my friend," He said as a proud smirk widened on his face "As soon as I'm done here with you, beaten you to, at LEAST, near death, I'm going to use you."

I groaned a bit and rolled around onto my stomach, before lifting my upper body up with my arms, my face bruised and bloody from his treatment.

"Use me? For what?"

"You see, it's very simple" He said as he smirked and sat on my back, trying to force me back down to the ground "I'm going to use you in a negotiation, between me and the Yuuki Family."

A great pain began rising in my abdomen and my ribs. He began kicking me in my stomach, my chest, everywhere. I felt how several ribs broke in several places, and I screamed loudly from pain.

"I'm going to threaten them with your life on stake" He said as he pulled up my head by the hair "Either Asuna Yuuki marries me, and gives me all the money that might come with the marriage, or I will kill you. Right here, right now"

I widened my eyes and looked up at him with a shocked expression. My life, against her marrying that snake!? I would rather live in hell for the rest of eternity. Not Asuna! Anyone else but Asuna!

"And do you know the best part?" he whispered in my ear sadistically "I can't even kill you. Not in here"

I widened my ear and gritted my teeth.

"What do you mean by that you piece of trash!?" I growled angrily as I stared up at him.

"The little fact about killing everyone in GGO?" He said with a satisfied smirk "All a bluff. I can't hack, and after what happened in ALO, I haven't been able to hire anyone who can, though that was the original plan"

"H-Huh? The players of GGO is not in danger?!"

"Exactly." He said, chuckling like a madman "It was all a play. I used you and your stupid little brain to use you against Asuna, pretty much forcing her to marry with me. She wouldn't let anything happen to her precious Black Knight, now would she?"

"What keeps her from plugging you out then?! If you can't kill anyone, what keeps her from forcing you to log out?!"

"Well, she doesn't have to know that little secret right?"

He smirked a bit and chuckled before spitting me in the face.

"Now, you lie here while I get everything ready like the bacteria you are" He whistled between his teeth "Maybe you can actually do that."

He threw my head towards the ground and I felt sand and pebbles enter the new wounds in my face, burning. I growled loudly from pain but still smirked. Now I had one small chance to still save everyone.

As Sugou went off to prepare the video message for Asuna, I opened up my own menu, and begged to god that she was still online.

~Asuna's POV, main city~

I couldn't sit still the entire time Kazuto was away. I paced back and forth in front of Sinon and Kyouji like crazy, I had already bitten off all my nails in nervousness, so now I had resorted to grip at my avatar's hair.

"Asuna, calm down. Kazuto can handle himself" Sinon mumbled as she looked up at me.

Yeah right. She was just as worried as I was, given the way she was looking at me.

"I know Sinon, it's just…" I mumbled "What if he doesn't make it out!? He can die in here now you know"

"I don't know, I'm pretty skeptical" She mumbled as she pinched her chin in thought "I thought they had-!"

But before she could talk any further than that, a sudden notification in my inventory's message box popped up on my HUD. I asked her to quiet down before I quickly read the message.

_To: Asuna_

_From: Kirito_

_Subject: Our Last Option_

"_Asuna, I need your help. The thing about Sugou killing the rest of the GGO players was a total bluff! He has hacking skills, but the system for the Amusphere is too powerful for him to crack. He can't kill anyone if we force him to log out._

_I need you to log out of the game, and pull his helmet off. This will immediately log him out, and pull him back to the real world. Please, it's our last option to save as many people as possible. _

I had to read through the message several times before I completely understood what it said. We finally had a chance to bring that parasite to his knees. I gritted my teeth as it hit me. He had upright deceived my boyfriend to a battle he won't even die from.

I clenched my fists and sent a quick reply back before turning to Sinon with a serious expression.

"Alright, I need to log out really quick" She said with a frown "I don't have any time to explain, so please just listen to what I'm telling you"

They both looked at me with an expression mixed between sudden surprise and confusion.

"I want you to find Sugou's character, and spam his inbox" I mumbled as I began finding the log out option in my inventory "I need as much time as I can, so just write to him as fast as possible. I don't have time to explain further than that"

Before they could even reply I had already logged out, and I quickly woke up in the hospital in the real world, looking at my caretaker with a panicked expression.

"No time to explain!" I yelled as I rolled out of bed and detached myself from the machines "What's the number to the head of The SAO Rescue Force?!"

She looked at me in complete confusion, unable to figure out what the hell I was doing. This was a chance to get my boyfriend away from the hell he had gone through the past year and a half. None of us had to suffer or be pained anymore. We could finally have some peace if I could just get through to Kikouka.

Before long the nurse had called Kikouka, and the plan rolled on to the next step. I just hoped Sinon and Kyouji had been able to stall for enough time.

~Sinon's POV, a few moments earlier~

"Do you think we'll be able to find him?"

I looked up at Kyouji's tall avatar with a wondering expression.

"Sure we can," He said with a calm smile "I was temporarily employed by him after all. Of course I would know his avatar name. Besides, I'm motherfricking Deathgun. I can even bring your new boyfriend to his knees"

I could feel the blush rise to my ears and I could practically feel how steam would have risen out of them if it had been some kind of crazy cartoon.

"S-Shut it Kyouji" I glared at him and huffed "He's just a friend okay? You help out friends is all"

"Sure" He said with a teaseful chuckle as he ran through the public player list belonging to this server "Alright, found him. Now to spam the shit out of him"

"What's his name? I have some interesting spam ideas"

"MetalDeath. Apparently he didn't want anyone to notice who he is" He mumbled quietly as he began typing on a virtual keyboard as fast as he could.

"Then why didn't he change his virtual appearance?" I asked him in confusion as I began typing as well.

"He thinks he's a genius, but to be honest he's far from it" Kyouji mumbled with a chuckle "Good thing for Kazuto though. He could recognize him as soon as we saw him"

"Yeah, it's lucky that Sugou don't go into detail"

I sighed quietly and tried to come up with as much spam as I possibly could. Hopefully Sugou would be pissed off so much that he would forget Kazuto for a while, and concentrate on deleting the spam we were sending him.

'Don't you worry Kazuto' I thought to myself quietly 'Your friends are here to help you'

"By the way Sinon, you still owe me that date after all of this has blown over"

I felt the heat rise in my face once again and I jabbed at his arm embarrassed.

"This is really not the time Kyouji!"

"hehe, Sorry, sorry"

~A little while later, Kazuto's POV~

I chuckled as quietly as I can as Sugou stomped around furiously, desperately trying to keep his inventory from filling with spam emails. This must have been because of Asuna.

"Now, the only thing I have to do is stall for time"

About two minutes earlier, he had taken both my pistol and my sword from me so I couldn't do any major damage to him besides punches and kicks, and even if I had tried, he would probably dodge my attacks. He was way too fast for my own good, so even if I tried to kill him, he would probably have me back pon the ground in no time at all.

His behavior about the spam from the strangers who I would think was either Kyouji or Sinon that was messing around with him, was rather comical to me. He mostly reminded me of a huge spoiled child, a child that couldn't get the last piece of candy like he had wanted. He stomped around angrily as his message bar kept plinging with new messages. It almost reminded me of when I emptied my email box for spam.

I couldn't help but laugh slightly at his comical appearance and that only served to piss Sugou off even more.

"Shut the hell up you worthless piece of trash!" he screamed as he kicked my rips again, managing to break another one "It's taken care of by now anyway, so get over here!"

As he was about to grab the collar of my armored coat, another window popped up in front of his face, though this time, unlike the many spam messages he had just received and tried to delete, there was a bright red warning triangle popped up along with a warning message.

"Huh!? What the hell is that supposed to mean!?"

I smirked a bit as he looked bewildered down at the, for him, disheartening message.

"VR helmet disconnected, reconnection essential… Automatic log-out process initialized!? Kazuto you bastard, what have you done!?"

"Hehe, I've done nothing" I mumbled as I stumbled back on my feet with a smirk on my face "I just pulled a few strings to get you logged out is all"

I chuckled quietly and stared at his shocked expression as I walked over to pick up my weapons, which Sugou had simply thrown to the ground a few tens of feet away from where I had lied earlier. I could barely stand from the many injuries he had inflicted upon my body, though I didn't care about those right now.

He glared at me angrily as his body began to glitch out and turn transparent.

"It's called karma. For what you've done to Asuna, to our families… To our friends… You're goiong to rot in jail for the rest of your life. And this time, you're not going to escape"

His eyes widened as the realization hit him. He wwas going to get logged out and he was going to be arrested as soon as he woke up in the real world. And the biggest disappointment of all, he couldn't take me with him in his fall.

"You bastard…" He growled angrily "Why must you always take what is mine!?"

I frowned and stared at him, unable to understand him at all. He was unbelievable.

"Asuna, and her money, was never yours to begin with" I frowned and began to walk towards him as his body glitched more and more and his hips disappeared, leaving the stumps of his legs and his torso to fall to the ground in a comedic way. I couldn't help but chuckle darkly as I stood over whatever was left of him.

"You know, I really want to hurt you right now" I mumbled with a grim expression as I activated my plasma sword "But the fact that you can't feel pain in the game, makes it not worth it"

He looked up at me with an expression mixed between intense anger and angst, but in contrast to how he acted when Klein beat his ass back in ALO, scared and pissy, this time, he no longer said anything, but just stared at my plasma sword.

"And if I ever see you anywhere near my family again," I mumbled as I sat down on my knees to bring my face closer to his "I don't care what happens to me. I will kill you, do you understand? And trust me, when I find you, you'll wish you had never, ever, imprisoned me. Do you understand Nobuyuki!?"

I could see how his anger rose. He still didn't get it, but I still had a feeling he was going to take my threat seriously. I stepped away as his head was the only thing left of him, before he was completely logged out.

I sighed quietly as the fail in the system quickly affected and glitched my character as well, before sending me back to the main city of the neutral area. When I opened my eyes and took another deep breath, I felt a wave of relieve wash over my body.

It was over. He was finally caught. No more incidents, no more hatred. No more fear and no more pain. I could finally lie down and relax, knowing that Sugou would be locked up forever and ever, and that I would never see him again.

I could finally begin to focus on my future together with Asuna, and how, like I promised to her, I was going to bring our virtual daughter into the real world to us. This had been a personal wish that Asuna had strifed for, for a very long time now, and I wanted to make sure that I was the one who was going to make that wish come true.

I could finally focus on making her happy, instead of going off to safe everyone from danger. I could finally focus on what she wanted, rather than what the world outside forced us to do. We could finally live in peace together, something that I had looked forward to do in ages now.

When I spawned back into town after a local system reset, I was immediately greeted by Sinon and Kyouji, who both wore wide grins on their faces. The plan had worked and I presumed that Sugou was already going behind bars, if everything went smoothly.

Since I wanted to meet up with Asuna, and tell all our friends the good news, I quickly logged out of the game after telling the both of them how they could contact me in real life. After logging out I slowly lifted my upper body from the ground. I don't think the sanitary smell of a hospital could ever have made me feel so relieved, or so alive then that point.

Immediately when I raised my head from the pillow, my upper body was immediately tackled by a crushing hug from Asuna, who had patiently sat by the bed edge to wait for good news. She pulled me towards her without any words and I smiled a bit as we met each other in a passionate and long-lasting kiss, one that would officially mark the end of the terror that was Sugou Nobuyuki.

As we parted from our kiss Asuna cuddled up towards me with a bright smile on her face. I smiled and kissed her forehead as I hugged her closer to my body, feeling the ecstatic heat radiating off of her.

We had finally won. And no one was going to take this happiness from me anymore. Never.

**A/N**

**Hey guys! Thank you for taking time to reading this weeks chapter!**

**I hope you guys loved that sweet lovey-dovey ending between everyone's favorite couple. I personally liked it so feel free to comment what you thought of the ending, and chapter as a whole. **

**I think I'm going to dedicate the next few chapters to some fluffy lovey-dovey time with family and friends before picking up on action or drama again. I think Kazuto and Asuna both deserve it, don't you? ;)**

**Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this weeks chapter, and thank you for the support. I really appreciate it.**

**See you next week, and stay awesome guys.**


	39. Chapter 39 - Peace and Quiet

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 39 – Peace and Quiet_

I smiled quietly and sighed from satisfaction as I felt the gentle breeze run across my face, throwing my hair over it. I was currently lying on one of the tallest hills in the greenery area around the main city in ALO, enjoying the peace and quiet around me as I could finally relax.

Sugou was finally gone. Never again would he terrorize me and my family. I was done feeling hopeless, I was done feeling vulnerable. I could decide my own fate now, and it had already been decided a long time before Sugou imprisoned me in ALO.

I smiled a little and opened my eyes to stare up at the white-spotted sky of ALO, the lulling flute of the BG music calming my nerves and making me relax. On my left was Asuna, quietly cradling Yui in her arms as they were taking a nice afternoon nap.

I couldn't help but chuckle as I saw how cute the both of them looked. I knew how lucky I was to still have them around, to still have people around me that loved me. Anyone who would only know me on the surface would have taken a distance to me by now, avoided me because of the trouble I apparently attract. Not Asuna though. Not any of my friends or family. They'll be there to the bitter end for me, and it felt amazing to know.

I sighed and sat up when I began to get a little bored, stretching my arms in a sleepy yawn and running a hand through my hair. I looked around the plains we were laying on, a casual monster spawning here and there as the wind brushing through the trees sang a different song than the one that played in the background.

I stretched a final time before jumping to my feet, feeling renewed and refreshed by the short nap. I turned to the two girls by my side, wondering if I should wake them up. I didn't get to make a decision though, as Asuna's eyes stirred a little, before the rest of her body slowly whirred into action. She sat up with a peaceful smile, looking up at me sleepily.

"Good morning" She mumbled silently as she stretched and yawned "Did you sleep well?"

"For once, yeah." I mumbled as I helped her up by the hand "For the first time in a while, I've actually had some good sleep."

"That's great, Kazuto." She mumbled as she pecked my cheek "Should we wake Yui up?"

"I would rather not to be honest." I mumbled with a soft chuckle "She seems so peaceful."

I smiled quietly as I could see a small smile form on Yui's face, followed by the words "I love you, mama, papa." She always managed to melt my heart somehow, whether she was asleep or not. I would feel bad for waking her up from her peaceful slumber.

"We were planning to take her to the southeastern beach, right?" Asuna said with a giggle "If we don't wake her, she'll miss a great trip to the beach."

"I guess you're right." I mumbled with a defeated sigh "She's just so cute when she is sleeping like that."

"I know right? But she wanted to spend some time with her parents" Asuna said with a heavy expression "After all this bullcrap we went through, we almost deserve a mini family vacation"

I nodded quietly as I sat down on his knees beside the sleeping figure of my virtual daughter. That was true. We had been through a lot, and a nice small vacation and some quality time with my family and friends was something I felt like I needed right now. Though it was still something I had to be waiting for.

Because of the massive sidetrack Sugou had brought me and Asuna out on, the both of us had had a ton of homework we had to catch up on. Every day since Sugou's capture 4 weeks ago, we had met up at least 3 times a week to hold study sessions together, trying to help each other catch up, and reduce the mountain of homework on each of our laps.

I had several funny and fond memories of those study sessions, one of the latest one's being of the more embarrassing nature. Asuna had gone to the kitchen to bring us a tray of ice tea for our study session, when she tripped over the carpet in the living room, and soaked herself completely through, leaving her clothes completely see-through. I could see everything, including her underwear under her clothes.

Now while I can't say that I didn't like the view, I was still obliged to help her as much as I could. Sadly enough, as she hadn't stored any clothes of hers at my house, she had to borrow a hoodie and jeans from me, along with some new underwear from Suguha before she could go home and get a new set of clothes for herself. Though I can't say I wasn't laughing a bit at her miserable state, much to her embarrassment.

It had more or less resulted in a slap for me, a scar for life for Asuna, and one hell of a laugh for Suguha and Midori when Asuna tried to choke me for laughing and staring.

I chuckled quietly at the memory as I lifted Yui up in my arms, earning a certain look from Asuna.

"What are you laughing at?" she mumbled in confusion.

"Oh nothing. Just a funny memory" I said with a chuckle.

I gently began shaking Yui in my arms, whispering to her that she needed to wake up.

"Come on Yui, wakey wakey" I mumbled silently as she fluttered her eyes open "Don't you want to go to the beach?"

She sent me a quiet little smile as she was finally waking up, yawning in the most adorable way as she stretched her arms.

"Good morning daddy, mommy" She mumbled sleepily as she rubbed her eyes "What's the time?"

I took a quick look in my menu, where the virtual clock was sitting in the left upper corner.

"13.45" I mumbled "If we want to have a fun day at the beach, we'd have to get going now"

Her sleepy eyes immediately lighted up in childish excitement, and she began throwing her arms around in excitement.

"Oh, right! Let go of me so I can fly there, immediately!"

I looked at her in mild surprise. It was rare to see her so excited that she would completely forget her normally gentle and polite outer form of expression, and to watch her struggle in my arms to get going was something I was not at all used to.

I chuckled quietly as she struggled to jump to the ground and smiled as I let her go.

"Okay, okay, calm down Yui" I said with a smile "If you fly too fast, you're gonna break the game!"

She didn't listen too much to me though. Before I had even finished my sentence she was already several tens of meters ahead of us. I looked over at Asuna with a baffled expression, before she shrugged with the same expression and began flying after our daughter in a hurry. I quickly flew after them.

After about 20 minutes of flying through the cool skies of the plains, we soon arrived of the map's most southeastern beach. The weather had quickly become too heated to wear armor and such, even in mid-air where it was normally cool, so Asuna and I had both changed into some casual thin clothing while we flew there, while Yui was so excited she didn't even recognize how hot it was.

Though when we finally planted our feet in the sandy grounds of the beautiful white beach, she was panting quietly and humbled over in warm exhaustion.

"Man, I didn't realize how hot it would be around here" She mumbled as she quickly changed into a one-piece swimsuit.

I chuckled quietly and smiled as I walked up to her and rubbed her head.

"That's what happens when you get too excited" I said knowingly as I wiggled my finger at her with a teasing smirk.

She pouted up at me and puffed her cheeks up in an adorable manner.

"I hate when you tease me, daddy" She mumbled as she turned her gaze to her mother "It's much more fun when we tease mommy together"

I facepalmed and chuckled under my hand as Asuna walked over to us with the same pouty expression that Yui had just put on display.

"You're both dummies" She mumbled as she stepped over to us and changed into a two piece bikini "And we're not here to tease each other, we're here to swim, am I right?"

Me and Yui both nodded with a confident smirk and I followed the example the two girls had set, as I changed into a set of blue swimming trunks.

"Heck yeah!" I said with a smirk as I fistpumped "Last man in the water have to give Klein a massage!"

Me and Yui quickly took off down the surprisingly empty beach, leaving a surprised and unexpecting Asuna behind.

"HEY! That's cheating!" She screamed at the top of her lungs as she sprinted after us desperately.

I should never have said that. The girls was both smarter than me, and flew into the water with their wings before I could manage to reach it, landing gently in the knee-high water with satisfied smirks.

"uhh, it was just a joke?" I said tryingly, but they both glared at me and smirked.

"Nope, you're not getting away from it" They both said with a laugh.

I sighed and sweatdropped before following them the rest of the way into the water, diving headfirst into the water in the middle of them so the both of them was splashed over with water, and I gained satisfyingly squeals from the both of them. I chuckled quietly at my mind as I rose back up to the service.

"That's what you get for ganging up at me!" I said with a hearty laugh.

They both glared at me before taking a glance at each other, and my skin suddenly crawled as I got a really bad feeling from them. They smirked at me before sprinting directly at me and tackling me at the same time, making all of us fall into the water with a huge splash.

As we rose back up over the water surface, we all took a long glance at each other, before bursting out into laughter, solely enjoying each other's company under the hot summer sun of the southeastern beach in ALO.

A long while later that day, we were sitting in a couple of beach chairs, sunbathing quietly with closed eyes under the baking afternoon sun. Yui was sitting by the water's edge, getting the last details on a sand castle she had been working on for the last half an hour.

I had closed my eyes and sighed quietly as I felt the hot sun's rays warm my skin, when Asuna addressed me from my right.

"Hey, Kazuto?" She mumbled silently as she looked over at me "Can I ask you something?"

I looked over at her with a smile and a nod.

"Sure, what is it hun?"

She smiled and blushed a little. Huh, I had called her hun before. Why was she blushing from it now?

"Well, I was wondering…" She mumbled silently "Since everything has been solved over with the parasite and everything… And we have this weekend mostly to ourselves…"

I looked over at her with a wondering expression, waiting for her to finish. Her blush was deepening a bit as she took a few deep breaths to calm her resolve.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go on a date" She said with a genuine smile and a dark blush.

I smiled quietly at her smile and widened my eyes when I realized. She wasn't blushing at me calling her hun, she was blushing because she was asking me out. I understood why she was embarrassed about it. It had been quite a while since our last date, so maybe we were both a bit out of practice. And since we had finally settled down and had some peace, I had actually felt a much stronger need to be closer to her.

This would be a perfect way to satisfy that need.

"Sure, that sounds wonderful Asuna" I mumbled as I reached out and grabbed her hand in mine "Did you have anything special planned?"

As I ran a thumb across the back of her hand, she looked up at the sky with a smile.

"Well, we've had a lot of dates where we did a lot of special things" she mumbled as she rubbed her chin thoughtfully with her free hand "But I was wondering if we should do something more personal and cozy… You know, maybe stay at your house and watch a movie?"

Now that I thought about it, it actually seemed like it was true. We had always been in town and exploring, on expensive dinner dates, going to the park and the sorts on our dates before Sugou came back to haunt us again. We had actually never tried to do something in a smaller scale, something in cuddle scale.

I smiled quietly and nodded softly, giving her hand a small squeeze as I looked over at her.

"That sounds like a good idea actually" I mumble silently "You're right, we've never done something small like that"

She nodded quietly and smiled. This actually came with more or less the perfect timing. My aunt was going to a birthday party for one of her high school friends, and Suguha was going to Recon's, or Nagata Shinichi's house, for reasons I was not sure I wanted to know. I chuckled quietly at that last thought before looking over at Asuna again.

"The timing could not be more perfect" I said with a small smile "We should have the house to ourselves this weekend, so we can hang out at my house"

"Sounds good Kazuto" She said with a warm smile "These next few days we should spent more time with Yui after school, when homework and all that is done. Then we can have that movie date this weekend, sound like a plan?"

I nodded quietly and squeezed hand again as I supported my head with my other arm in the beach chair.

"Sure, sounds good"

As I replied to her question, we were suddenly interrupted as I was surprised by a sudden suggesting chuckle from the foot end of the beach chairs.

"Hehe, look at mommy and daddy, being all lovey dovey"

It turned out to be Yui, who was eyeing us with a smirk. I blushed a little and looked at her with a glare, still holding Asuna's hand in my own. I was feeling that it was time to grow up, and not feel so embarrassed about showing my affection towards Asuna in public. We had been dating for several years now after all, and I felt like it would only be natural to hold hands and such with your significant other by that time.

"What, I can't hold mommy's hand anymore?" I asked her as I looked over at her with a smirk.

She giggled quietly under her hands as she jumped up into the beach chair and into my lap.

"Nope, that's my job, you know?" she giggled again and nuzzled closer to me.

"That's unfair, I was there first you know!" I mumbled dissatisfied as I looked at her with a pout.

"That's true, he did hold my hand before you did honey" Asuna cut in with an admitting smile.

"No fair, now you guys are ganging up on me!" Yui shouted with another adorable pout.

"Anyway, are you done with your sand castle, Yui?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

She looked at me a little confused, like she didn't know what I was talking about, until she widened her eyes in realization.

"Oh, right! Yeah, almost!" She said with a happy smile "I just wanted you and mommy to help me with the last details"

I looked over at Asuna with a small smile and nodded at Yui.

"Sure, we can do that" I mumbled as I lifted her onto the sand beside my beach chair, standing onto my feet and stretching from the relaxing sun bathing.

Asuna stood on the other side of Yui and we each took one of her hands, as we made our way down to the water's edge together with her.** A/N**

**Hey there guys! Thank you for reading this week's chapter of After The incident!**

**I know it's bit short, but when I finished the whole scene on the beach with Yui and her parents, I really thought of it as the perfect way to finish this chapter off. I couldn't help but stop there. Please don't burn ,e at the stake for it.**

**Anyway, I hope you thought it was fluffy enough for your taste. Personally, my blood was close to turn into sugar when I wrote it, hehe. **

**Anyway, again, thank you for reading, and I'll see you next week.**

**Peace out!**


	40. Chapter 40 - Moonlit Love

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 40 – Moonlit Love_

~Kirigaya Residence, Kazuto's POV~

I sighed quietly as I sat down on the last two steps on the stairs in the entranceway in my house. This was it. The first date with Asuna in a long while. I was much more nervous than I had ever been on any other date with her, but it wasn't because it had been a long while since our last date. It was because I finally felt ready to take the next step with her, in our relationship.

After all we had been through, after all those painful months of having to go through all of that anxiousness, that nervousness, fear of Sugou striking and hurting my family, or the people I held the dearest, I felt a strong urge to be close to Asuna, stronger than I had ever felt it before. Every minute I had to spent away from her became more painful than the last, and I had noticed how I had kept glancing at my phone for when she would text or call me again.

I felt a strong craving for her, one that was much stronger than anything I had ever felt before. My desire to be near her was so overwhelming that it was almost sickening, and tonight, I wanted to finally be able to go that far with her. I just hoped that she felt the same way about me.

I took a deep, nervous and shaky breath. Besides being nervous for the date going well, there was all the nervousness about the question I would let fall this evening. I had gone through the plan again and again. I already knew that my entire family would be out that evening, so that took care of the matter of getting interrupted if we ever actually got that far.

We'd start all casually and sit quite normally at first. Then within maybe the first 20 minutes we'd get all cuddly with each other. Maybe crack a few sweet and flirty jokes to break the ice. I had even prepared snacks, and for once, tried to bake HER something, a small bag of cookies, chocolate chipped. We would feed each other snacks and we'd have a really great time.

Then out of the blue, if the mood would be right, we'd start kissing. And from then on… Well, we'd just have to wait and see. Though plans rarely ever go as you planned them, so I didn't want to jynx myself by thinking too much about it.

Right now I was trying to muster up the courage to do something I had never thought I would do so early in my life. I pulled on my running shoes and took a look at my phone screen, before heading outside and grabbing my bike and driving along towards the store nearby.

I could feel how my nervousness was getting the better of me, and I was already beginning to strategize in my head how I was going to approach the situation, like it was some sort of boss battle back in SAO. It was just quickly into the store, buy them, and out again. Don't even look the cashier in the eye, you wouldn't have to. But rather this humiliation than risk hurting the both of us.

Now that I thought about it, it actually helped on my nervousness to think about this humiliating experience like a boss battle, with every action forward towards my goal would be an attack bringing the boss' health points a bit closer to zero.

I sighed quietly as I parked my bike outside the convenience store. Any other day this building would have been as welcoming as ever, not seeming any different in my own or in anyone's eyes actually. But now that I stood and watched it, it mostly reminded me of a haunted house. I could almost imagine how it would transform, Transformers style, and stand on two legs before picking me up and swallowing me whole.

I took another nervous gulp before I took in a breath and finally stepped inside through the automatic sliding doors of the entrance to the store.

~About five minutes later~

I could finally release the breath of air I had held in the entire time I was in there. I sighed quietly and looked down at the small plastic packet between my thumb and pointing finger. I pressed onto it lightly, like just the fact that I was holding it, or anything that could be connected to it, was a dream. Or maybe a nightmare.

I sighed quietly and stuffed the small packet into my pocket. It had been so humiliating. The cashier had smirked at me and had had a certain glimmer in her eye as I payed for the small packet. I hadn't even dared to look up at her, and she had even had the nerve to ask me "If it was my first time buying one of those items?" it was so embarrassing…

But at least, now I could actually put it behind me, and actually get to preparing for tonight. This entire day had been embarrassing enough already, and the clock hadn't even stroked 1 in the afternoon.

I moaned a bit of maybe despair, before I jumped back onto my bike, and going back home. I just wanted to hide under my bedsheets for a few hours until my embarrassment had disappeared, and Asuna would actually arrive.

She had some family business she had to take care of before she could come over, but when that was over, we would have more or less the entire afternoon and evening to ourselves, which was a soothing thought in the midst of the chaos that was my head right now.

I smiled quietly and panted a bit from pedaling on my boke. It had been a while since I had rode this old bad boy last time, but surprisingly, it still fitted me. It must have been from a time before I entered SAO, three years back from now.

You would almost think I had grown a little bit since I was fourteen, and it did seem a little smaller, but I didn't seem to have grown all that much. Now I was about 1.88 meters tall, and though that was pretty good height norm for my age, I had always wished that I would grow to at least 1.9 meters. Though I guess I had grown a lot as a kid, so I wasn't exactly complaining.

That thought crossed my mind as I settled my bike against the wall in the garage of my home, before stepping in through the main entrance to my house. Of course, my torment was from earlier was not at all over. With my luck, it was only natural. Suguha was of course standing in the entranceway, smirking at me mischievously as I stepped inside.

"Oh! Welcome home, dear brother of mine" She said with a cheeky smile as she wrapped her arm around my shoulders "I wonder where you needed to go, in such a hurry"

Dammit, if I snapped at her, she would definitely know what was going on, and if I seemed too nervous or shy, it would have the same effect. I would have no other choice but to try and pretend I hadn't done anything important.

So, my best course of action would be to avoid the topic entirely.

"That does not concern you" I mumbled with a pout "Do remember that I am older than you, dear sister. The question should come from me, not from you"

She pouted a bit and grabbed onto my waist as I was headed upstairs.

"Come on, tell me!" She yelped in excitement "You haven't bought anything shameful for tonight, have you!?"

"L-Like hell I would!" I lied, looking back at her shocked "A-Anyway, I have to go get ready for tonight! E-Excuse me!"

She smirked and giggled evilly as she let me go, and I immediately took the opportunity to bolt upstairs. Now to hide that item and take a shower so I was ready for tonight.

"That Suguha, geez"

~A few hours later~

I smiled quietly as I sat in the rocking chair on my family's porch. Only a few more minutes until Asuna would arrive. Just as I was about to close the book I was reading and head back inside since it was cold, I saw Asuna's mother's car swing down from a linking street to ours, and park outside my house.

Asuna smiled as both her and her mother stepped out of the luxurious and high class car, before she ran up and hugged me close to her. I couldn't help but blush a little before I hugged her back, since she never used to show her affection for me in front of her parents, especially in front of her teaseful father.

Ms. Yuuki smiled heartily before walking up onto the porch and bowed her head.

"Good to see you are still well, young man" She said with a small smile "I believe you and your family are doing well?"

"Very much so, thanks, Ms. Yuuki" I said as I bowed my head to her as well "We've somehow managed to move past what has happened until now."

"Very good. Keep going, okay boy?" she said with a nod and a smile before she turned to Asuna "I expect you to act like a proper lady, alright Asuna? I'll pick you up at 3 tomorrow afternoon"

Now that she mentioned it, I had noticed Asuna had brought a small bag with her. Did she want to stay over, until tomorrow?

"Of course mother." She mumbled back as her mother kissed her forehead and went back to her car.

We stood on the porch and waved as we watched Ms. Yuuki drive out of sight. As soon as the red lights from her hindlights disappeared around the corner, Asuna turned to me and smiled as she held up her back.

"I hope you don't mind I'm staying over" She said with a small smile "I kind of just acted from an idea, you know"

"So, you just got the idea and asked your parents if you could stay over?"

"Exactly" she said with a giggle "But what are we still doing out here? We're supposed to be all lovey-dovey and cuddly in there, aren't we?"

With this flirty little jab, she took my hand and let me inside, like it had been her house we we're staying at and not my own. I wouldn't do anything but follow her willingly though.

We quickly settled into the living room and I dimmed down the lighting to set the right mood. After that was down, I quickly settled down with Asuna on the couch, who had already pulled out several things from her bag, one being a small bag of candies, and another a few drinks.

"There's no reason to watch movies on an empty stomach am I right?" She said with a cute smile "Come on, put on the movie!"

She seemed a lot more excited for this than I was, or maybe it was just nervousness. Any way or another, I wasn't going to decline such an offer.

I smiled and reached for the remote on the coffee table, before starting the movie. It was a rom-com, classic for a cuddle date.

I smiled quietly and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and she quickly lied her head on my shoulder as we began to relax. I blushed quietly as a certain smell hit my nose. Was she wearing a new perfume or something?

I smiled quietly and cuddled up as close to her as I could, just enjoying her presence. I had more focus on staring at her than focus on the Tv, and before I even knew it the movie was over, though I had caught on most of the plot by the time that the movie ended.

I glanced over at Asuna, and was a bit surprised. She seemed to be crying silently. Guess the movie really hit her.

"Are you okay, Asuna?" I asked her silently as I hugged her shoulders a little.

"Y-Yeah, it was just a really sweet movie" She mumbled as she dried her eyes "Those two were perfect for each other…"

"I still think he should have been with Nana" I mumbled with a pout.

She looked at me with a surprised expression, before lowering her gaze and shaking her head with a sigh.

"Poor, poor Kazuto… You obviously have no idea how a relationship works" She said resignedly.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" I yelled in protest "Don't I have the most amazing girlfriend right here!?"

She blushed and pushed me playfully with a small giggle, and it didn't take long before her and I was in a full fledged wrestling match on the couch. Somehow we managed to roll over each other and she ended up on my back, with my stomach on the couch, completely pinning me down.

"Do you give up!?" She exclaimed victoriously. I wasn't going to let her win so easily of course.

"Never!"

"Not even if I do, this?"

I suddenly felt a crippling and wet sensation along my neck and the bit behind my ear, and I realized she was kissing me. She was so sensual and gentle about it. I couldn't help but moan as her lips moved down and along the nape of my neck. I could feel my skin crawl from the sensation, and clasped a hand over my mouth to not let her know she was winning with this.

She giggled quietly and moved a little farther up, whispering in my ear.

"I'm pretty sure I found your soft spot already, Kazuto" she whispered teasefully "Why don't you just give in?"

"I-I can't let you win so easily, can i?" I said with a challenging smirk as she rolled me onto my back and sat on my lap.

"Hmm? I'll have to bring my A-game then" She said with a teaseful smirk.

I had to admit, at least to myself. This wasn't anything I was against. If she treated me like this, I felt like she could fell me with only a few short sensual words or actions. I smiled quietly, almost begging for it internally as she leaned down and kissed my lips deeply and gently. I smiled and kissed her back, feeling the electricity run through my body with every touch.

I found my hands move on their own, wrapping them themselves around her waist and pull her closer to me. I could feel her lips towards mine retract in a smile as she deepened the kiss more and more, the more we kissed, the more sensual and magical it became.

Before I even knew we had moved, we ended up in my bedroom. Everything seemed to go on 5 times faster speed than usual. Right until we ended up my bed, with her on top of me. She pulled away for a moment to catch her breath, and at that exact same moment, the moon broke free of the clouds out in the sky, shining the most beautiful ray of moonlight on her, illuminating her beautiful presence.

I got chills when I managed to get a good look at her. I had no idea how, but somehow, I had managed to form a wonderful relationship with the most beautiful and mindful girl in the world. She meant everything to me. I loved her so much.

"Kazuto, what's wrong?" She asked quietly, her expression suddenly turning doubtful and worried "You're crying"

I widened my eyes a bit and moved my hand up to them to confirm it. Indeed, tears was streaming down my face.

"I'm sorry, it's just…" I mumbled as I tried wiping my face "I guess I'm relieved. Relieved to have gotten through this nightmare, and you're still by my side… I can't stand the thought of losing you…"

I could hear a small breath from her as she removed my hands from my face and looked deep into my eyes with a smile as she intertwined her fingers with mine.

"me too Kazuto… Didn't I tell you?" She said with a small smile "We got through it together. All of those hardships was worth it, to be with you…"

I smiled quietly and nodded, leaned up and kissed her once more.

"Asuna… I have something to ask you…" I mumbled silently as I looked up at her "Do you know what I mean?"

She nodded quietly and giggled a little.

"Rika saw you in town today by the convenience store" She said with a small smirk "I know what you bought there you pervert"

An eruption of blushing spread over my cheeks and I looked away in embarrassment.

"Come on, don't treat me like this…" I mumbled in embarrassed pain "I have trouble finding words as it is!"

I blushed a little deeper as I felt her hands leave mine and rest on my cheeks, pulling my gaze back towards her.

"I haven't said no, have I?" She asked quietly as she rubbed a thumb across my cheek "To be honest, I have thought of taking that step too. I just felt like it would be right to take that step tonight…"

My blush crept up to a new crimson level and I nodded, before I reached over to my nightstand, and opened the small drawer, revealing the small packet to her. She couldn't help but blush quietly at the reveal, knowing what would come up it.

"Is it okay though?" I asked, as I couldn't help but get doubtful and nervous "Are you sure it's okay?"

She nodded quietly and slowly took my hands again, giving the both of them a small squeeze.

"You are the only one I would ever do something like this Kazuto…" She whispered silently as she sat up on the bed "I trust you. And I trust that you feel like you've made the right decision"

I smiled and crawled over to her, kissing her deeply. I could feel how she smiled and deepened it passionately, sweeping away any doubt of myself I may have had. I was hers, and she was mine. We were each other's counterparts. And only with our counterpart could we experience the magic that was being born between us.

She smiled and sat back before slowly opening her shirt, letting me help her pull it off her shoulders. She smiled quietly and crawled over to me before kissing me again, letting the two of us fall onto the bed in a tender and passionate embrace.

We made love for the first time that night. The pleasure of having her so close to me was indescribable. That night, without words, we renewed the vow we made after I escaped from ALO.

I was her's, she was mine. I was her black knight, and she was my red and white queen. And forever on, no one could ever take us apart. Ever.

**A/N**

**Hey guys. Hope you enjoyed this very sensual chapter of After The Incident.**

**I had such trouble writing this chapter to be honest, since I've never written something so close to the edge of a lemon xD but I think I pulled off fine. Let me know how you guys think I did, by leaving a review.**

**And also, to answer KIRITOASUNA22's questions from the last chapter, i believe i will skip most of the Caliber arc, to be honest. i didn't really see it as significant. though i will be including the new characters from the Mother Rosario arc, such as Yuuki and her guilt. I can't help but write about that goof xD**

**And "A Forbidden Love" is updated every week on Sunday, alongside "After The Incident". So there you go, i hope that answered your questions at least to some degree XP**

**So tehre you have it. See you guys soon, and keep reading.**


	41. Chapter 41 - Recon Takes The Step

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 41 – Recon Takes The Step_

~Kirigaya Residence, Suguha's POV~

"Kazuto! Kazuto! It's morning! Wake up already!"

I grew extremely impatient at my older brother, who either didn't or wouldn't hear my knocks at his door that morning. And here I had prepared breakfast and everything for him. Oh well, I'll just leave it at the door and he can eat it cold.

So that's what I did, the steam still rising off the plate.

I decided to take a short shower and brush my teeth, before eating my breakfast and walking upstairs to my bedroom, finding my Amusphere from my shelf.

I sighed quietly and laid down on my bed, about to dive back into ALO. I had promised Recon to meet up with him that afternoon, and I didn't want to seem like a backstabber, though I would rather watch the new season of The Walking Dead on TV. It was incredible for how many years that series had managed to rack up, and even though it was getting kind of repetitive, it was still a really cool series for me to watch.

Though, Recon was of a bigger importance right now. He said it was urgent, so I thought maybe the Salamanders had made a move in the ALO war again.

So as fast I could I put on my Amusphere and logged in, going through the same process as always, before I felt my virtual body take form, and spawn into the main Sylph Capital. I barely had time to write a message to Recon that I had arrived, before he appeared in the crowd a little further down the street.

"Leafa! Over here!" He yelled childishly.

A few other players looked his way. I wasn't sure whether I found his childish display really embarrassing for me, or really cute. Wait, cute!? What the hell was I even thinking!?

As I shook that thought off with a shake of my head, I waved back at him with a sly smile.

"Hey, Recon" I said in a normal tone as he reached me "You do know you could have addressed me in a less childish tone, right?"

"huh? What do you mean?"

"Nevermind. Anyway, what do you want? The Walking Dead is on, you know"

"I know, I know." He mumbled "We've watched every season together, you know? Anyway, I've started a recording at my place, so we always watch it together later this week."

"Sounds like a plan at least." I mumbled with a sigh "Anyway, you didn't really answer my question."

"Oh, right!" he yelped as he realized his mistake. "I have something very important to ask you!"

"And you couldn't have asked me in person or over the phone because…?"

"Well…" Suddenly, a red hue appeared across his face. I didn't like the direction this conversation was heading "It's a really important question, and since ALO means a lot to the both of us, I felt like it would be the best place to ask you."

"Huh? I have no idea what you're talking about Recon." I mumbled, sincerely having no idea.

"Anyway, just follow me to the tower highpoint" He mumbled, seemingly getting nervous "You know, the point that makes sure you get as far as possible when flying?"

"Yes, I'm well aware of that spot, Recon" I mumbled, getting a little annoyed "I use that tower everyday on missions you know?"

"Could you stop with the sass, and just come along!?"

I widened my eyes a little at his attitude as he grabbed my wrist and pulled me along through the crowd. It didn't seem like him to be bossy, but to be honest, I preferred it over his indecisive and whiny self, which he used to be in the game.

As we finally reached the top of the flight tower, I watched as Recon took a few steps close to the edge of the tower, looking over the plains surrounding the capital of Sylvein with a solemn but nervous look on his face. I was used to him being nervous and flimsy around me, but this level of nervousness was something I had never experienced before, and it was making me quite nervous as well.

He took a deep breath and swallowed his fear, before turning back towards me, a determined expression upon his face.

"Leafa… No… Kirigaya Suguha…" He said sternly, before he bowed "P-Please, go out on a date with me!"

As he stood there, waiting for my answer, I couldn't help but widen my eyes and put a hand over my mouth in surprise. I knew that he had had a crush on me since forever, that much was obvious, since he never acted as nervous or shy around anyone other than me, but I had never actually believed he would work up the courage to ask me out.

I couldn't help but feel a bit happy though as well. This guy had always tried to do his best in anything he'd do. Sure he would be clumsy, mess up a lot, and say things at the wrong time and the wrong place, but he had always been working hard to meet everyone's expectations, including my own.

The feelings that welled up inside me took me back in time in a flashback, to the first day that Recon played ALO. He had tried so hard to impress me, show off what he could do. But he had been too eager, and he was quickly overwhelmed and killed by one of the simplest mobs in the game. Of course the system was taking it easy on him since he was new and the enemy wasn't that strong, but his confidence has still taken a huge blow, and he had been unsure and nervous ever since.

I wasn't quite sure whether or not I could go as far to call him traumatized by the whole ordeal, but he had certainly been marked by it.

I almost felt bad for never really considering that when we were playing the game, and I bit my finger a little as I considered his proposal of a date.

"W-Well… Uhm… Geez, don't put me on the spot like this!" I yelled at him, completely and udder embarrassed.

"H-How else was I supposed to ask you out!?" he retaliated "Asking you over the phone or text seemed like a coward's way of doing it… I would rather do it while actually seeing you face to face…"

I widened my eyes quietly and looked at him in shock. Even before he had that first day of gaming in ALO, he had seemed like a pretty whimsy guy, so the fact that he stood up and actually admitted something like that was a surprise to me, maybe even to himself.

"I-Idiot…"

I mumbled silently and crossed my arms as I pulled my gaze away from him, still considering his question.

"Well, I'm not exactly looking for a boyfriend, but…" I mumbled, nervous and shy from approaching such an embarrassing topic "But sure, I can go on a date with you. Just this once"

I could almost swear that I could see how his eyes lit up from excitement in the corner of my eyes as the both of us turned bright red.

"A-Awesome! M-Meet me in the town square tomorrow evening, 8 o´clock, okay?" He said with an excited and childish smile, before he dashed into the crowd and disappeared.

I blushed quietly as the realization of what I had just accepted only now seemed to sink in. I was going to go on a date, with Recon of all people. I had no idea why he even had a crush on me in the first place. Outsiders would think of us as complete opposites, and even I knew that this was actually true.

He seemed to me like he was the basic gamer/nerd type of guy, who would rather stay in his own room instead of making an effort to go out and hang out. Me on the other hand made a great deal out of seeing my friends as much as possible, and often took Recon with me if I met up with the others just to show him how fun it could be to actually breathe fresh air.

Of course that didn't mean I spited him for that, no. I actually found his shy and nervous side a little cute to be honest, though in-game I would much rather that he was forceful and aggressive, since the Sylph's didn't have as much use of a wimp as of a muscle man.

"Wait, why am I thinking about him that way!?" I mumbled shocked to myself as I slapped both my cheeks lightly to put some sense back in my head.

I shook my head and sighed, putting my hands on my hips.

"I appreciate him wanting to make an effort of asking me out, but…" I mumbled as I rubbed my arm "This is so much more embarrassing…"

And with that, I logged out, deciding to get ready for the following evening the next day.

~The following evening~

I sighed quietly and checked my wristwatch again. It was 7.55 now. If I had left five minutes ago, I wouldn't be in such a hurry. I huffed quietly at my own stupidity and trudged forward in a fast tempo, not wanting to make Shinichi wait for me.

It was weird. Now that I thought about him, I realized that ever since I had logged out of ALO yesterday, I had thought of him as Shinichi, and not Recon. I found it strange how used I was to use his two names.

Though I also thought that maybe he was pretty different when he was online. He seemed almost desperate to prove a point, prove his worth, prove to me and his other peers that he wasn't just wasted space. I didn't know where it came from, but for some reason his fear of a bad performance was so intense that it affected him in battle.

Though, out here in the real world, he would act only as himself. Maybe he was still a little nervous around his friends and me, but he would still not seem like he was trying to impress anyone at all, especially around me. He would just turn back to the friendly and happy boy that he used to be.

I shook my head to clear it of thoughts, frowning quietly as I tried to get to the town square in time. I soon arrived and began searching for his signature brown hair and trench coat. Though I quickly spun around when I felt a slight tap on my shoulder. Expecting to see Shinichi standing there, I smiled as I turned around, but that smile quickly turned to a sour pout.

"What do you want, Kazuto?" I mumbled as he grinned at me smugly.

"I thought you said you were going to the library" He said as he began circling around me like a predator "Hmm, I wonder how your mother is going to think of our little… predicament?"

Ah great. I guess this is revenge for what I put him through yesterday, before his date with Asuna. I had to do something fast, or I wouldn't hear the end of Kazuto's blackmailing.

"I'm just headed through he-!"

"She's on a date! With me!"

I spun around a second time, to see Shinichi stand right behind me with a nervous but brave expression on his face. He frowned quietly and his lower lip quivered a little as the taller and even a bit more muscular silhouette of my older brother approached him slowly.

"With you, huh?" He said with a smirk as he stepped forward to him "And what makes you think I will accept you as her boyfriend huh?"

"Kazuto!"

I stared at him in shock and a bit of embarrassed anger. How dared he do something like that!?

"Calm down, little sis" He said with a teaseful snicker as he looked at me over his shoulder "It's a big brother's job to inspect her _Boyfriend _before they go on their first date. Wouldn't want to see you hurt, right?"

"Kazuto, stop!" I squealed in embarrassment "He's not my boyfriend! At least…. Not yet…"

I couldn't help but let the last words slip out of my mouth in fear of hurting Shinichi's feelings, and this only seemed to lay fuel to Kazuto's fire.

"Alright champ, tell me a bit about yourself" Kazuto said as he looked back at Shinichi "I wouldn't want to let my sister go, without knowing her partner"

All the while as Shinichi tried to talk for himself and the reason he had asked me out, I could feel the embarrassment burn in my face. When Kazuto finally had heard enough and gave Shinichi his apparently obligatory blessing to let him date me, he smiled and waved before going his merry way and disappear in the evening crowd of the town square.

I pouted a bit as I followed him with my eyes as far as I could until he was out of sight, drawing a relieved sigh as he finally disappeared.

"Man, he's such an asshat" I mumbled quietly before turning to Shinichi "Sorry, he tends to be pretty teaseful"

"I find him more like a showoff" He mumbled with a small pout before his expression loosened to a smile "But I think I would put my little sister through the same if it was me, just for shits and giggles"

"Yeah, maybe" I couldn't help but admit that as I giggled "Anyway, we're not supposed to focus on him, but focus on having a good time, right?"

"Oh uhm, yeah you're right" he said as his tense body relaxed as well "I have a whole lot planned for us"

"Now that you mention it, what ARE we going to do, tonight?" I asked curiously as he smiled and approached me to stand by my side "you didn't really tell me…"

"Oh, sorry about that" He said with an embarrassed chuckle "I guess I was so excited that you said yes that I completely forgot to tell you"

He chuckled quietly and put out his arm, offering me to wrap my hands around it. I hesitated at first but nodded quietly to myself and took it, before he lead me through the crowd with a smile.

"What a gentleman, you are today" I mumbled as I looked over at him "You're not nearly as awkward as usual"

"W-Well, I believe I should pull myself together today" he mumbled with a sly smile "I can't stay nervous and uncertain forever. And now that I know that I had the guts to ask you out… Well, I think I should change, you know?"

I looked at him surprised. He really was completely opposite today. I squeezed his arm a little as we walked through the busy street.

"You don't have to change, you know?"

"Huh?"

He looked at me with a surprised expression. I guess hadn't expected me to say something like that, but despite his surprised expression and my nervous blush, I continued what I was going to say.

"You don't have to change. I like Shinichi as he is. He doesn't need to be either determined or strong. He doesn't have to prove anything to me. He can be himself just as he'd like"

I could see a nervous blush run across his cheeks, and he looked away.

'Great, I embarrassed him' I thought to myself 'He sucks at dealing with embarrassment. Not that I can talk'

Though when he looked back at me, a smile was still on his lips, and he nodded quietly.

"Thank you Suguha… I will try, okay?"

I blushed lightly and smiled as I nodded back at him.

"Now, where are we going again?"

"Oh, right! There's a really cool movie theater right down this sidestreet…"

~A couple of hours later~

I smiled quietly and leaned my head on Shinichi's shoulder as he lead me through the street. He had led me to a cute little movie theater, hidden away in-between two large buildings on the main street. It was a place I had never heard of, but it was stylish and comfortable so I didn't complain.

He had bought as much candy for the two of us as he could carry (or afford), and we had had a wonderful time watching the most romantic rom-com movie I had ever seen. It was not something I spent much time on normally, but this one was certainly worth what we had spent.

And now, Shinichi was escorting me back to my place, like a true gentleman. I had never realized he was so gentle with people he cared for, but it was certainly not a quality I had anything against.

When we finally arrived at the front door to my house, it was late evening, and the stars was twinkling silently as the night had laid as a carpet over the city. I smiled as Shinichi led me up on the porch to our house, and let go of his arm to turn towards him and smile.

"I had a really great time today, Suguha"

"Me too…"

I was so embarrassed that I could barely get myself to speak. When he smiled and turned around to leave, he threw a casual goodbye over his shoulders.

"I hope we can do it again sometime" He said with a smile "See you in ALO tomorrow?"

"You got it"

That was it. I couldn't say anything else. He began to walk and was almost out of sight when…

"Shinichi, wait"

I jogged after him and met him at the sidewalk by the road. He looked back at me confused, and before any of us said anything else, I quickly kissed his cheek.

"See you tomorrow"

And with this, I turned on my heel, and ran back inside.


	42. Chapter 42- Sinon Steps Out of Her Shell

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 42 – Shino Steps Out Of Her Shell_

~Sinon's POV~

I once again found myself on that same old swing, in that old playground. It was a place I had grown fond of visiting, even when I wasn't down. I had it easy whenever I would visit this place, and I would visit this place even more often than the safe haven I showed Kazuto before his tournament debut in GGO.

I had often thought about why this place calmed me so much. It was a question wrapped in mystery for me, even when I tried my hardest to figure it out. But now that I had matured since then, I had realized why that was so. It was because this held one of my best kept memories. It was the place I had met Kyouji, the one boy who had kept me from growing insane.

The fact that my trauma was held down this much, and that I hadn't grown mental already, was all because of him. Because he had the heart and the will to approach me, to talk and to socialize with me, despite about all the rumors that went around about how I was a psychopath that would shoot anything in the face that provoked me. All because of that damn bank robbery when I was little.

Ever since then, people had avoided me, terrified of me because of what I had done. To some amount, I understood their intentions. I did kill somebody after all, and only as a little kid. Who knew what I would be capable of when I grew up?

In the beginning, people understood what had happened perfectly. But the rumors about me quickly spread, corrupting people's sense of meaning, and shortly after, people went in a long circle around me. Even worse, some of the girls from a bigger grade began hating me, pushing me around because of what they thought I had done, though I never did anything of the sort.

On top of that, when they learned about my trauma from one of my parents' friends, they started to psychologically ruin me. Started to use my trauma to their advantage, and make me do all kinds of things unless I wanted to vomit and piss myself in fear and disgust. Just the fact that one of them would make a gun with two of their fingers would be enough to make me tremble on the ground in terror.

Then, one day, as they confronted me in that same playground, about to make me go in and buy all kinds of snacks and soda for them, be their errand girl, Kyouji saved me from their bullying. Fended them off and told them to stay away from me. They had destroyed my jacket, so he lent me his, and told me he would make sure to get me home safely.

I had felt so safe and so warm in his embrace. His jacket smelled of sweat and bad deodorant, but I liked it. I think I've had a crush on him ever since then, but up until now, I've never really known what true love was.

But I knew that after seeing how much Kazuto liked Asuna. He would go through the debts of hell and back again, just to see one of her smiles again, and I respected him colossally for that.

And, after seeing what kind of passion he fought with, I finally understood what kind of feelings I had for Kyouji. I could finally distinguish a best friend from a lover, and I had settled my sight on him becoming mine.

But I was still unsure about how to approach it.

Sure, he had asked me out before we helped Kazuto back in GGO, but I had asked him to wait until that whole situation had died down. He hadn't asked me further about it after the GGO incident.

Which was what had driven me back to this old playground. I had finally resolved myself, and made it clear in my own mind that I would ask him out. So, I had invited him over to the playground, to hang out and possibly have a talk about what was on my mind.

So, now I sat there once again, on that same old squeaky swing. The rusty chain squeaked ever so slightly whenever I would swing forward on it, and I smiled every time I heard it. I looked up and sighed nervously as I watched the sun spread it's rays of light throughout the world.

I let my gaze fall onto the gravel under my feet, but was quickly brought up once again as I heard a set of footsteps approach from outside the playground. As always, the first thought that ran through my head was that it was one of those girls, but luckily, and to my big relief, it was Kyouji, the one I had been waiting for.

I smiled quietly and quickly jumped off the spring as I saw him, and he flashed me a small smile as he went through the entrance to the playground. We quickly met in the middle, and he smiled at me shyly as we now only stood a few feet away from each other. I could also feel the heat rise to my cheeks.

"Hey"

"Hey"

A small breeze ran over the area as we stood there awkwardly.

"S-So what did you want to talk about?"

So he decided to break the question. I gulped down my spit and squeezed my left arm with my right hand, before pulling myself together.

"W-Well, do you remember you asking me out before going to GGO?"

"Yeah, of course I do, Shino" he mumbled nervously as he rubbed his arm "H-How about it? Have you found an answer?"

I gulped down my spit from nervousness and blushed as I nodded.

"Y-Yeah" I mumbled silently, barely even able to look him straight in the eye "Well, do you remember when we first met? That time you saved me from those girls?"

He nodded quietly and smiled a little, scratching his neck nervously as the sun shone from behind him. It darkened his features, since he was facing away from the sun, but it also gave him a resonance of higher substance.

He blushed a little as I took a step forward.

"W-Well, I think…" I mumbled, barely audible due to my nervousness "I think I've had an answer for your question ever since then… I just didn't know I did, not before now"

"W-Well?" He mumbled quietly, visibly getting anxious "What's your answer?"

I blushed dark red and felt goosebumps roll over my arms and my legs as I finally braced myself.

"M-My answer is yes, Kyouji" I mumbled as I tried a small smile "I-I'd love to go out with you"

You could literally see the happiness roll over his face, and the anxious and confused expression he had worn was instantly washed away by the excitement and pure joy of relief that replaced it.

He smiled widely and instantly burst forward, catching me off guard and pulling me in for a tight hug. I blushed dark red as I felt the same embrace wrap around me as I did the first time I met him. He hadn't changed a bit. His jacket still smelled of the same bad deodorant it had back then, but to be honest, now that I experienced it again, I realized that I had missed it.

I smiled quietly after recovering from my surprise and wrapped my arms around his waist as well, before looking up at him with a blush.

"Are you going to plan something?"

"H-Huh?"

"Well, for our date of course" I said with a small blush "Isn't it the guy who's supposed to plan that sort of stuff?"

"I-I don't know…"

I could physically feel how his body began to heat up, and I chuckled quietly at his embarrassment. Not that I was much better either.

"Hey, it's me, right?" I said with a small smile "You know me. You can act like you always do around me"

He nodded quietly and rubbed his shoulder softly.

"Yeah, I-I know" he mumbled with a small smile "Sorry Shino, I'm just not used to this kind of thing"

"Yeah, me either" I mumbled with a small smile "But let's take it slow, and see what happens over time, okay? No need to be nervous"

He nodded quietly and smiled. I felt his arm move and I blushed as I felt his hand snake it's way into mine, before giving it a small squeeze. I smiled and squeezed back.

"Let's go home for now, okay?" I mumbled after we had stood there for a while "It's getting late, and we can go home to plan our date. Sound good?"

He was pretty silent from there, but at least he smiled and nodded as an answer. I smiled and nodded back before leading him back out of the playground. I smiled and took his hand in mine shyly, before leading him back to my tiny apartment.

As we stepped into the entranceway, he smiled and politely took his shoes off before going in, though I never cared much for small things like that. I smiled and lead him in as I pulled off my jacket as well.

"Make yourself at home" I said with a small smile "Do you want some tea?"

"Don't you want me to make it?" He asked politely.

"No it's okay" I said as I grabbed the kettle and a couple of teabags "You've always sucked at nifty stuff like this"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Come on, it's true" I said with a giggle "You literally ruined three bags of tea, trying to prepare them back when you rescued me from those girls"

"That's true" He admitted with a blush and a small chuckle "Though, I'm older now. I can actually make tea just fine"

No doubt that you can" I said with a smile "But just let me do it okay? It will only take a few seconds"

"Fine" He said with a soft smile "I'll just try to find your dirty little secrets instead"

I blushed dark red and looked back at him in shock.

"W-What the hell is that supposed to mean!?"

~Later that same day~

I smiled quietly and sat up on my bed. I looked over at Kyouji, who at some point had fallen asleep and now was lying quietly beside me. When did we fall asleep anyway?

I looked up at the digital clock on my nightstand. The time was 10:30. It was pretty late already.

"Kyouji?" I asked quietly as I shook his arm "It's time to go home and get some real rest"

I shook his arm a bit more until he finally woke up, and he yawned and stretched a little before looking at me, a small blush rising on his cheeks. I guess it was from how close we had lied on my bed.

"Do I really have to go back home?" He mumbled quietly "My parents are working late again today, you know?"

"Yeah, but still. Wouldn't it seem a little…" I blushed quietly, carefully considering my next words "suggestive, if you stayed over here?"

"To who? My parents? No one should care, Shino"

He said it so matter-of-factly that I couldn't help but kind of agree with his argument. It was true, we could pretty much do what we wanted without anyone had to care, at least as long as it was legal.

"Okay, you can stay. But just for tonight, okay? We have to go to school after all"

He nodded quietly and smirked.

"That's in two days though. We could stay up all night if we wanted"

"You're right, and we properly just had all night's worth of sleep" I mumbled, having to agree "So, do you want to stay up and do something?"

"We could eat snacks and watch scary movies all night! Just like we used to do!"

"That sounds like a good idea actually. Alright, you stay here and see if I have anything lying around we can eat. Then I will go buy drinks, okay?"

He nodded and smirked before jumping out of bed. I did the same, and immediately headed for the entryway, before pulling on my jacket and shoes and heading out into the busy street.

I have to admit, I was excited at the idea. The only thing was maybe it was so late nothing was open anymore that day. But I wasn't that worried. Some gas station had to be open or something.

Even at night the city was as buzzling and lively as it could be. It reminded me a lot of the spawning city in GGO, in many ways.

I quickly found an open place and bought a big pack of sodas, Kyouji's favorite, before heading home. On the way though, I met a couple of nasty obstacles. I could instantly recognize them, though they all naturally had grown and matured. It was the same girls who used to traumatize me when I was younger.

It wasn't planned. We coincidently bumped into each other in the busy street.

"Hey! Who do we have here!?"

Their leader, smirked quietly and took a firm grip in my arm. I growled a bit and tried to resist, but they quickly dragged me along to the same playground I had been on with Kyouji earlier that day.

"Now now, we're all friends here, right? We just want a friendly chat"

I knew that was bullshit of course, but I had no choice but to follow along. They were three against one, and even if I would have tried to resist, they would certainly overwhelm me.

They put me in the swing and I glared up at them, my drinks neatly put by the side of the swingset.

"What do you want?!"

"Do we need a reason to mess you up?" The girl in the middle said with a smirk "You killed someone, I'd only be appropriate for justice to be served"

I growled up at them with hatred in my eyes and lashed out at them, a strike which they easily dodged by stepping backwards.

"You wouldn't know justice if it walked up to you and hit you in the face" I snarled at them, pissed they were still after me "Do you guys really have that little of a life, that you need to pick on someone smaller and weaker than you?"

"Shut up" the girl in the middle growled at me softly as she kicked at my hand "We might have to resort to some tougher tactics"

She pulled the backpack she had on her back onto her arm, before rummaging in it a little. After a while, she pulled out something I'd rather never have been near again.

She held a gun. Not a real one, though plastic. I was immediately convinced it was one of the airsoft guns I had heard of. It looked just like a normal pistol, except whenever you would take a closer look, you could easily see it was made of plastic. I had heard several bank robberies had been attempted with those things, though luckily, all was failed.

That didn't matter much to me though. The trauma I had went through as a child was quickly triggered, and I could feel my stomach turn around itself, and my legs turn into jelly. My knees and teeth began shaking and I collapsed onto my knees as I stared up at the fake gun in complete hysteria.

"What are you doing!? Take that thing away!" I screamed at her, most of all wanting to turn away and close my eyes.

"Not so tough now, are you?" The girl said with a sadistic smirk. I couldn't even avert my eyes as she brought the barrel closer to my forehead.

Just as she put the finger to the trigger, and my fear was at it's peak, just before they could achieve the total humiliation of me that they wanted so badly, a yell suddenly cut sharply through the silence like a knife.

"HEY! LEAVE HER ALONE!"

I looked up with a fearful expression, and saw Kyouji stand by the entrance to the playground. I widened my eyes as he ran straight towards the three girls, and sucker punched the girl with the gun across the cheek, sending her sprawled onto the ground with a thud.

The two other girls looked at Kyouji with their glares and stood in front of their leader protectively as she got back onto her feet.

"What the hell are you doing here!?" She growled at him as he helped me onto my feet.

He was staring at them with a defying look and was about to stomp over to them, when I took his arm. I shook my head at him and stepped in front of him, before gathering my resolve and stomping over to the girls myself. I shoved away the two girls before taking a firm grip in the shirt of their leader and pulling her upper body upwards menacingly.

"If you EVER touch me again, I do not know what I will do to you, do you understand me!? I've killed before, and I can kill again!"

She looked up at me with a shocked expression before scooting to her feet and running out of the playground, followed close behind by her two puppies, and ran down the street as fast as they possibly could. I huffed quietly and dusted off my clothes, before looking over at Kyouji, who was looking at me with a stunned expression on his face.

"H-How did.. Did you…?" He mumbled as he stared at me.

I blushed quietly and looked away.

"I had to stand up for myself for once" I mumbled quietly as I rubbed my arm "You can't save me everytime someone has something on me"

"Then, why now? Why not earlier?" He asked as he finally stepped up to my side.

"Because… I didn't have the courage back then" I mumbled quietly as I blushed "But now that you're here… God, you're making this so hard to admit"

"W-Well, uhm… I'm happy to help?" He asked in a slightly confused tone.

I nodded quietly and smiled a little at his nervous tone and chuckled.

"Come on, let's go home"

And with that, we walked home, me making sure to pick up the drinks I had left by the side of the swing set. Before we turned the corner of the sidestreet though, I blushed as I felt Kyouji's protective embrace around my shoulders.

´I guess…. Today really was a good day´

**A/N**

**Hey guys! It's Dragondemolition, and I'm finally back bitches!**

**I've already explained the reason for my absence, so no reason for that. Instead, I want to provide some information for you guys.**

**KIRITOASUNA22 brought quite the nice question from the last chapter's review into view.**

**And that was, if I was going to be releasing a chapter for each of my fanfics every month, or just a single chapter from only ONE of my fanfics.**

**And sadly, I have to say, I will only be posting one random fanfic chapter. I simply just won't have time to make youtube videos, while at the same time keeping enough inspiration to keep up 3 fanfics at the same time. That's too much on my mind, and I hope you guys understand. Though it really depends on how much time I have on my hands. Sometimes I might only post once a month, other times I might upload 2 or even 3 chapters. It depends how much time in a month I have.**

**Now that, that is out of the way, I want to thank you guys.**

**The support in my absence has been absolutely incredible. The amount of nice and supporting messages I have received from you guys has just been enormous, and there is no way my little heart can contain the amount of love I have for you guys.**

**You are the reason I continue to do what I love to do, and I can't thank you enough.**

**So thank you guys so much for reading and watching my content, and I hope to see you guys once again, next month.**

**Peace out guys 3**


	43. Chapter 43 - New Aincrad

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 43 – New Aincrad_

**A/N**

**Hey guys. I just want to explain a little bit about the timeline of the last 2 chapters or so, to those who might be a little confused.**

**The two chapters, Recon Takes A Step, and Shino Steps Out Of Her Shell, is placed on the same day in the timeline, but in two completely different places. Also, this chapter is placed on the same day as these two chapters, continuing from when Suguha went up after calling for Kazuto, but in Kazuto's POV.**

**Anyway, enough about my rambling, enjoy the chapter!**

~The Kirigaya Residence, Kazuto's POV~

I blinked my eyes open that morning, the morning sun filtering through my curtains in my room. I could have sworn I heard Suguha call for me, but I didn't hear anything now. I could feel a familiar warmth press up against my back as my body began to wake up, and i smiled softly as I immediately realized what it was.

I rolled around and smiled as I looked at the figure of my sleeping girlfriend, who was clinging to me desperately. I smiled and wrapped my arms around her frame, enjoying her warm presence beside me in my bed. I smiled and snuggled up towards her, not even caring that we both currently were stark naked.

I loved the feeling of her skin against mine. I had had the best experience of my life with her last night, a night I was convinced I would never forget. I smiled quietly as I stared at her beautiful face, before giving her a light peck on the forehead and sitting up on the edge of the bed.

I sighed softly and stretched my arms, feeling the pleasant feeling of the suns ray's hitting and warming up my back. If only I could wake up like this every morning. That would truly be a bliss.

I sighed softly as I was about to stand up onto my feet, when I suddenly felt a warmth press against my back: I gasped suddenly, before I saw a couple of thin arms wrap themselves around my chest, and I realized that Asuna was hugging me from behind. I gulped and blushed a little as I felt her chest against my back.

"G-Good morning dear" I mumbled softly as I looked back at her with a small smile.

She made a small moan as she was just waking up, and she rubbed her eyes softly as she sent a sugarsweet smile up at me.

"Good morning, Hun" She mumbled before giving my cheek a small peck.

She put the covers over her nude body before sitting beside me and leaning her head on my shoulder. I smiled and wrapped her in an arm, making us even closer than before.

"What was the time when we finally went to bed yesterday?" Asuna mumbled with a giggle.

"To be completely honest, I have no idea" I mumbled with a chuckle as I snuggled closer to my wonderful girlfriend "Anyway, let me help you find your clothes"

Finding her clothes wasn't a very hard task, in fact it didn't take many minutes. Though there was one certain article of clothing that took a little longer than then the others to find, namely, her panties, which somehow had ended up hanging on top of my computer monitor in the entirely opposite end of my room.

Asuna giggled quietly as i finally handed her her panties, and i smiled as i pulled on my own clothes as well.

"How the hell did they end up there!?" She said with a laugh as she covered herself with the bedsheets and pulled on her underwear.

"Who knows? I was more focused on you last night" I said with a chuckle "Those were just in the way"

A blush rose up into her cheeks, but her embarrassment wasn't strong enough to keep her from retorting my teasing.

"Don't act like you weren't as shy and nervous as I was" She said with a giggle.

I chuckled quietly and felt the blush run up into my cheeks. Though, despite what was happening, I wasn't really freaking out from embarrassment like I thought I would. I quickly finished dressing and turned my back so Asuna could get some privacy.

"oh come on Kazuto, you're not gonna look at me?" Asuna teased with a giggle "We're real lovers now, you know? It's okay for you to look at me when I'm changing"

"What the hell happened to you last night?" I said with a chuckle as I glanced over my shoulder "Normally you would never have let me do this"

I quietly turned around just as she let the bedsheets fall from her body, letting me see her fully. Instead of panicking like I usually would, I was surprisingly calm and just smiled as I headed over and sat down beside her, before wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Have I ever told you, you're the most beautiful human being?" I said with a cheeky smile.

She giggled quietly with a hand over her mouth as she nuzzled into me.

"Yeah, several times. Last night too" She added with a smirk "Though I'm never gonna get tired of hearing it from you"

"Hehe, I thought so"

I smiled quietly before lifting her gaze with a finger under her chin and kissing her deeply, feeling us melt into each other as we always did in each other's embrace. Though this was different, as it was very passionate, longing and gentle.

After having sat there for a while, and let the outside sun warm us back to life, we dressed up and I opened the door to my room. I was surprised to see a couple of plates with bacon and eggs lie on the other side.

"Wake up on time tomorrow, would you? ~ Suguha"

I shaked my head with a chuckle and crumbled the note in my hand and took the plates back in with me, the steam still rising from our breakfast.

"My dear sister has been taking good care of us" I said to Asuna as I led her back to the bed "Let's hurry up and eat"

"You in a hurry Kazuto?"

"Yeah, but I'm not telling with what, just yet" I said with a smirk, before I started to wolf down my breakfast.

~Inside The VR space, Kazuto's POV~

"Alright, try placing a boulder over in that corner, Klein!"

"You got it!"

Everything was finally falling into place. It had been in development for more than a year, and finally it was almost done. The program I had been working on.

All the extra courses in programming I took at school had apparently paid off, cause the program was running like a dream. I felt my smile widen as a boulder began materializing in the grass in the corner of the world room tutorial I had created for tests of the program, and felt a pride rise in my chest like none other as I watched it appear without problems.

This space was something that I had created. While under the excuse of making it to be a new way for players to interact with VR, but to be honest I had started this project with my own selfish desires and goals in mind.

Asuna and especially little Yui, had expressed how much they missed the cottage in the woods that we used to live in, in SAO. So I had hoped that, with a little help from my friends, that I could create a space entirely for myself and my family. A nice little place where we could be on our own, without having to be interrupted by anything ever again.

I owed this to both of my favorite girls in the world. We were finally able to live carefree again, swim in the lakes, go on walks through the woods, finally be a family again, without me constantly having to deal with outside danger.

The stress of chasing around Sugou's tail had made me distant from my girls, and I hadn't seen Yui as much as I had wanted to. It pained me to the core that that was how it had to be, but at the same time, I wanted to protect my family at all costs. So ultimately, I did it for their sake.

When the boulder was finally done spawning, I looked over at Klein with a smirk.

"It's running relatively smoothly," I said as I wrote down a note "But we'll have to work on it's spawn time. How long did it take for spawning in?"

"Around two minutes" Klein admitted with a scratch of his neck "And that's just a boulder. Think about it if someone tries spawning a castle, or an underground cavern"

"Exactly" I mumbled softly "There won't be much to a dungeon creator if it takes all day just to spawn everything in"

Suddenly, Agil swung down from a tree in a vine and landed between us.

"I'm sure we can work on the spawntime" He said with a small smile "What I'm more concerned about is bugs"

"Yeah, I know" I mumbled quietly as I pinched my chin in thought "I took a look at the programming board. Nothing should be out of the ordinary"

"It's always good to take a second peek" Agil said with a smirk "We'll want it to be able to run smoothly when you make your new world for Asuna and Yui"

"Yeah, that's true" I said with a chuckle "Seriously guys, I can't thank you guys enough. You didn't have to help me with this…"

"Don't even say it, dude" Klein said with a smirk as he punched my shoulder "This is what friends do for each other. And besides, you deserve it after all you've gone through to protect us"

"That's right, Mr. Black Swordsman" Agil said with a smirk even wider than Kleins "Let us begin to repay you, man"

"I really appreciate it" I said with a small bow to them. A little out of place maybe, but I felt it necessary "Thank you"

"No problem. Now let's take a look at the remaining bugs" They both said, as we each began to log out for what might have been the twentieth time today.

~A Couple Of Days Later, unknown location. Asuna's POV~

I had been a bit in a hurry that afternoon, ever since Kazuto called me. He had asked me to come over, and begged me to bring my old Amusphere. I had no idea why, but I didn't see any reason to object, so I quickly headed out towards the Kirigaya residence. I looked forward to seeing Kazuto's family again. It had been a while.

When I finally arrived at the Kirigaya residence and knocked the door, the first familiar face I was greeted with was Suguha, as I had predicted. We had become very good friends after all, and I had expected her to be pretty excited about the news of me arriving.

After a couple of hugs and moments of happy chattering with Suguha and her mom, I smiled and excused myself before heading upstairs. From inside, I could hear explosions, futuristic gun shots, and the sounds of planes flying over the sky.

I opened the door and smiled as I saw Kazuto sitting by his computer and playing an older FPS game. I quickly ran over and pecked his cheek.

"So what did you want to show me?" I asked excitedly as I looked at him.

He smirked quietly and chuckled teasingly.

"Someone seems excited. Go ahead and boot up your Amusphere, and lie down"

"Are you sure about it? I mean, these things did trap us in a game for years. Are you sure using your old Nervegear is going to be okay?"

"I've taken a look at it" He said with a smile "I've made sure it can't harm me, so it's okay"

I looked down at the helmet in nervousness. It was, after all, a tool that had held me and my partner captive in a virtual world for more than 2 years, and could have possibly killed us. Of course I trusted my partner and his abilities, but I couldn't help but feel a sting of nervousness as I accepted the helmet.

I strapped my new VR helmet, the Amusphere, on with nervous excitement. When it came to virtual reality, there was no saying what Kazuto could have been planning, or for how long he had been planning to do this. The fact that I had no idea what this was all about, made my curiosity overpower my fear after a short moment, and I quickly lied down.

"Okay, so I'll have to boot up the program before I can follow you inside" He said with a smirk "Just wait for me okay?"

Program? Now my curiosity was through the roof. He hadn't mentioned anything about a program until now.

"Sure. I'll see you there, hun. LINK START!"

Barely had I shouted those familiar words before a rain of flashing colors rushed past me in virtual reality. It was nice being back here, after all this time. I had honestly missed it, despite the various memories that came with it.

At first, everything around me was black. Then slowly, a light began emerging in the horizon, revealing the most wonderful thing I had seen in a long time.

I was suddenly standing in front of a cottage that was all too familiar to me. I had arrived back at the cottage Kazuto, Yui and I, had been staying in on vacation, the same cottage as in Aincrad, the cottage where many of my most precious memories had home.

Everything was standing in its prober place. On the porch was our cozy rocking chair that we had spent one afternoon after the other, telling each other stories and relaxing with Yui. From where I was standing, I could see the flower crown that Kazuto had made for Yui, was hanging from a nail in the bedroom window upstairs.

Behind me was the lake where we had spent countless of mornings and evenings, waking up with a comfortable and cool bath.

Everything was exactly as I remembered it. Not even the slightest flower in the grass was out of place. It brought tears to my eyes, and I was about to break down, when Kazuto suddenly appeared beside me and smiled over at me softly.

"Surprise! Do you like it?"

Barely had he said those words before I tackled him and assaulted him with kisses and hugs.

"Like it!? I love it! Everything is there!"

"Well, I have one final surprise. Come out honey!"

I looked up from my partner's embrace and felt my eyes fill with tears once again. After more than a year where the closest I could get to her was to look at her through a screen, Yui was finally standing there, in flesh and blood, her white summer dress swaying gently in the breeze as she watched the two of us with a smile.

"Welcome home mommy"

I released the breath I had subconsciously held in and sprinted up to her, tossing my arms around her in a tight hug. I couldn't take it anymore. I broke down and cried. I cried, and cried, and cried, more happy tears was shed than I had ever she before. I was finally able to hold my precious daughter in my arms again, to tell her stories, and to kiss her goodnight when tugging her in.

I was finally able to do all of those things again. I cried silently as I hugged her in close.

"Yui! Oh god Yui! It's you! It's really you!"

"Mommy! Mommy!"

We sat there and cried for a while. It was good to get it all out of my system. To let me hold my precious daughter within my embrace once again, was the greatest gift anyone could ever have given me. I pulled Kazuto in for a hug as well, and we sat there and hugged each other for a long while.

"How long have you been working on this, Kazuto?" I whispered softly as we all snuggled in closer to one another.

"About a year now" Kazuto said with a chuckle "Yui actually gave me the idea. And I knew that you missed her, so none of us had any objections"

"Daddy somehow managed to convince me to keep quiet" Yui said with a giggle as she snuggled her face into my shoulder "You would have known along time ago, if it was up to me"

"I hate you for not telling me earlier, Kazuto" I said with a pout, but that only made Kazuto smile brighter and laugh heartily.

"Haha, that might be so, but then it wouldn't have been much of a surprise, would it? Besides, I doubt you could have lived with the excitement and impatience for a whole year, so technically I did you a favor"

"Call it what you want, I still want to strangle you sometimes"

We laughed loudly as we held each other, and laid down in the grass, cuddled up close to one another. This was easily one of the best days in my life.

**A/N**

**Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this months chapter!**

**I'm so sorry that I've been holding this (And some other) Fanfics on hiatus for so long, but I had a tough time figuring out what I should do for them, and how to put it all together. But now it's finally here, and I hope I won't have to put anything on hiatus for so long ever again.**

**Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I'm happily this fanfic is finally back with a new release. Hope you guys had an awesome day, and keep on reading.**


	44. SAO Christmas Special 2 - An Invitation

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Christmas Special 2 – An Invitation_

~Sinon's POV~

It was snowing outside my window that day as I began rolling out of my bed. A quick glance out of the window made my lips curl up in a small smile. I had always liked snow. The way the small snowflakes danced across the grey sky, and the way they painted the otherwise colorful canopy outside to a shining bright white as far as the eyes could see.

I might be living in the city, but that didn't stop the snow from painting everything a brilliant beautiful white.

I rolled out of bed with a smile and put on my glasses, pulling on a pj shirt as I walked up to my window, gazing outside. My memories flooded back to when I was a kid, when I would love to run around and play in the snow. And afterwards, it was a tradition for my mom to make me a hot mug of cocoa with marshmallows. It was one of my most precious memories.

My smile widened a bit as I went to my small kitchen and quickly boiled up some water, feeling like a warm cup of either coffee or cocoa, before I heard my phone buzz on my night table. Having my phone buzz all the time was something I had gotten more accustomed to since I had met Kirito and the others, but still, letting it buzz around Christmas time was still a new thing.

I smiled though as I picked up the phone and saw that I had received a text from Kyouji.

"Hey Shino. Since I'm leaving town tomorrow to be with my family, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out today? Maybe go to that café you like so much? We have to swap presents after all.

If you can't, I understand of course. But if you want to meet up, meet me at the café at around 12."

I smiled and giggled a bit at the text. As usual, he was overly excited with everything. I quickly gave the buttons a few quick taps to send her reply.

"I would love to. Are we gonna go to that Christmas market too?"

Not long before I had sent my reply, his answer came back.

"Haha, if you want to. I know you like those trinkets at one of the stands every year"

"Yeah, but they're cute you know? I might just buy some for the girls this year"

"You mean Kirito's friends right? Yeah, that's a good idea"

"Anyway, I'll just get ready and I'll meet you at the café, okay?"

"Sounds good. See you there"

I smiled once I had read the message and moved to the kitchen to quickly make some breakfast. I had completely forgotten about the now boiled water on the stove, patiently waiting for me on the stove. After breakfast I quickly walked to the small almost closet sized bathroom I had, before taking a quick bath and combing down my hair.

Going back to the kitchen, I took the kettle off the stove quickly before any accidents happened, and walked over to the mirror in my hall to put on some make-up. It had never been something I had practiced, but Kyouji almost deserved it, after everything he had been through.

I put on a bit of eyeliner and lipstick, before looking over myself in the mirror.

"I look dumb…" I mumbled, rubbing my arm in insecurity "Will Kyouji even like me in make-up?"

A sudden thought struck me. Since when did I care about what Kyouji thought of me? When had I become aware of myself around him? We had always been friends, but it was that kind of friendship where I knew I could be myself entirely, but suddenly, I had become cautious of myself. I felt an urge to please him suddenly, and I didn't know when this started, or where it came from.

I shook my head free of thoughts and sighed before looking away from the mirror.

"No, it's fine. I look fine" I reassured myself.

I sighed softly as I looked down at my phone to check the time. 11.25. If I hurried up, I could catch the bullet train and get to the café just in time. I pulled on my grey jacket and green scarf, along with my beige snow boots, and headed out the door, closing and locking it behind me.

* * *

It was the 23rd of December that day. The streets and the bullet train, was both crowded with people, all probably in a panic to get out and buy the last amounts of Christmas presents. I had already gotten that taken care of, since I couldn't see much sense within waiting until the day before Christmas to buy all the presents.

And with Kyouji's present secured under my arm, I was now pressed between the other passengers, on the unpleasant ride on the bullet train. Not that this was something completely new to the train system of Tokyo. In fact, it was like this every day of the year. But because of the season we were currently in, it almost felt like double the amount of people were on the train than normal.

When I finally got off the train and could breathe normally again, I didn't hesitate and hurried up the underground metro stairs and up into the chill air of Tokyo's December streets. Everywhere around me, people were chatting, phones were going off, a few couples were walking around arm in arm, chatting happily as they snuggled up to each other.

I blushed quietly as my thoughts ran to Kyouji and I. Would we be in a similar situation at some point in my lives?

I widened my eyes and blushed deeper before slapping my cheek before hurrying down the street. Before long, the café Kyouji and I enjoyed to visit came into view, and I rubbed my boots free of snow a little, before stepping inside reluctantly.

I glanced around the café a few times, wondering where Kyouji was sitting. The place was not particularly crowded, despite the Christmas rush. So why was it so tough to spot him in there?

As if on cue, my phone began buzzing in my pocket, and I took a look at the screen. The text message I had received had me furrow my brow.

"Hey Shino. Sorry, but I stepped off on the wrong station. I'll be there in 20 minutes okay? Please wait for me"

I sighed silently and put my phone back in my pocket without even answering. I was surprisingly disappointed by Kyouji's sudden lateness, and I sighed again as I found a couple of empty seats in the back of the café.

I looked out of the window reluctantly. I was already bored to hell, not really wanting to go on my phone and waste its battery. It was always a comfort to watch the snowflakes fall outside the window playfully, so as much as I was bored, time luckily passed quickly. Before I even realized, Kyouji was standing right beside me with a comfortable smile.

"Hey Shino. I'm sorry I'm late"

He sat down beside me and immediately took my hand under the table, which I didn't object to. We had already agreed that we were going out on dates and whatnot, so holding hands had become a common thing over the last couple of weeks. Though it hadn't evolved much further than that.

I smiled and squeezed his hand a little as I leaned my upper body against his.

"it's okay Kyouji, you just made a mistake" I said with a smile, trying to hide how annoyed I had felt earlier "Besides, we're talking twenty minutes. They quickly went by"

"It's good you're not mad about it" he said with a smile "have you ordered anything yet?"

"No, I wanted to wait for you" I said with a small smile "I was thinking we should go walk through the streets once we're done here"

"Awesome idea" He said with a pleased smirk "But first, let's go get you some hot cocoa"

"H-How did you know I like that?" I mumbled in surprise. I had mentioned nothing about hot cocoa around him.

"Call it a hunch" He said with a smirk "Come on, we've got a Christmas market to explore"

I nodded meekly and smiled as I followed him up to the counter and ordered a couple of mugs of cocoa.

"Funny, I was about to make one of these when you texted me this morning" I told him, holding his hand in my own as we walked back to our table.

"Really? What a coincidence" he said with a chuckle "I knew you liked these!"

"I'm still curious how you know" I said with a smile.

"Well, you remember that time we had cleared that winter area in GGO?" he asked with a smirk "You didn't talk about anything else, than getting a mug of cocoa when we were done"

"Oh yeah, I do remember that" I mumbled, blushing quietly as I remembered my own bantering "Well, to my defense, I was almost freezing to death. I had a status effect and everything"

"Well, with those clothes on your avatar, why are you surprised!?" He said with a wink and a smirk.

I blushed dark red and glared at him.

"Hey, have you been staring at me like that!?" I mumbled as I looked at him suspiciously.

"No, no. I swear I haven't" he said in an unconvincing monotone voice.

I punched his arm and huffed before taking a swig of my cocoa. It was just the right mix of cream and chocolate, making it all the more enjoyable.

"I forgive you, since you were willing to pay for this for me" I mumbled as I glanced up at him "I might have to change outfits in-game though"

"Please don't" he said with a snicker "I know some people who would be very upset if you do"

I blushed dark red and glared up at him, trying not to choke on my cocoa.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!?"

"Come on, ever since the tournament, you've been one of the game's most popular sniper players!" He said with a smirk "You can't deny, part of that is because of sex appeal"

I blushed dark red and let my gaze fall to my knees. I played nervously with my skirt. I indeed had noticed that several advertisements in-game had been made with me as lead, and that people did give me a few glances wherever I went, so I had noticed my rising popularity ever since the tournament.

But I wanted to believe that it was because of my skills, and not just my bodily image.

I was broken from my train of thought by a gentle hand on my shoulder by Kyouji, who looked me dead in the eye with a gentle smile.

"Hey, don't obsess over such things" he said calmly as he squeezed my shoulder "You're a bit like a pop-idol, but in GGO. People might notice your curves, but they like you because of what you can do with your weapons, and how badass you are. Don't forget that, okay?"

I felt the uncertainty in my chest disappear completely and I nodded quietly, before my head once again returned to Kyouji's shoulder.

"Thanks… You've always been good at comforting me"

He smiled and nodded a little as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder in a protective embrace.

"You're more powerful and stronger than you think" he whispered, letting me feel his body warmth "Don't ever think negatively about yourself"

After that short ordeal, we finished our hot cocoa and continued down the street, to begin finding and exploring the Christmas market that was supposed to come to Tokyo every year around this time. It was highly convenient for the many panicking people that had pushed buying gifts to the very last minute.

As we exited the café, Kyouji once again took my hand, and I blushed a little as we continued down the street. For once, I was the one leading him in excitement, knowing exactly where we had to go to get to the market. I had been there for so many years now after all.

When we finally got there, I looked around in excitement. It seemed the number of booths had only increased from last year, and the noise was booming from every direction. I noticed a certain guy take a glance at us, and chuckle and smile softly. Was he happy that such young people were a couple? That didn't matter to me. Just the fact that people was noticing us like this, made my cheeks flare like never before.

All of that afternoon, we spend together, hand in hand, exploring one booth after another. At the far back end was a costume/clothing store, and somehow, Kyouji managed to convince me to go in and try a couple of them.

Once I saw myself in the mirror, I felt so stupid. My cheeks flared up for the millionth time that day, as I saw the surprise costume pieces Kyouji had put on my face. He had put a red clown nose on me, and outfitted me with brown reindeer antlers, as well as a set of golden earrings shaped like a Christmas tree, and a few stickers with various shapes and colors on my left cheek.

As I stood there and gazed over the horror he had turned my face into, Kyouji was standing somewhere behind me in a big elk costume, complete with antlers, a red collar with a bell, and big soft boots, and tried not to laugh out loud, which he of course failed tremendously at. At last he couldn't take it anymore, and laughed loudly as he slapped his own leg.

I pouted and crossed my arms over my chest in a childish banter, that I at some point had realized only Kyouji could bring out of me.

"You're not much better off, mister!" I yelled as I pointed a finger at him.

He just laughed louder and wiped the tears off of his cheeks.

"I'm sorry Shino! You just look so goofy!" He walked over and planted a kiss on my free cheek "Better?"

I blushed dark red and glared up at him childishly.

"You just love embarrassing me, don't you?"

"Yup, pretty much. Feel like trying any other costumes?"

"NO! NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS!"

"Alright, alright. Come on then, there's more places to see!"

* * *

That evening, we went to the center of the market. They were going to light a big Christmas tree in about 20 minutes, and the two of us didn't want to miss it.

Hand in hand, we walked back to the center of the market, with each our presents under the other arm. I had grown much more used to it during the day, so right now, I no longer cared about the smiles and glances we earned from the people around us, and behind the counters of the small food joints and item booths.

Kyouji had explained how he knew some of them personally, and that was the reason that so many people seemed to care about the two of us holding hands.

"But aren't you worried your parents are going to find out?" I mumbled softly, as we settled down on a bench near the big tree "I mean, being with me would seem like a big distraction from your medical studies, would it not?"

He nodded softly and sighed.

"First of all, my parents don't get to control my love life" He said with a serious and stern expression "Second, I believe I can balance study time and time with you. Maybe not to a degree that my parents will like, but that is simply how things are going to be"

"I don't want to be a split in your family though" I mumbled, a guilty feeling running over me "I don't want you to fight your parents or anything like that for my sake"

I knew him as a very affectionate guy. He would do anything for the people he cared about, even more so after what happened with his brother in SAO. So battling with his parents to be with me, might cause him to make a decision that couldn't bring things back to the way they were before.

Before I could finish that thought though, Kyouji had taken my hand, and put it on his chest.

"Shino, everything will be fine" He mumbled with a smile, his heart beating against my fingers "Do you sense any insecurity in my heartbeat?"

He was right. The rhythm of his heart was steady and gentle, slow and certain. I couldn't even sense any second thoughts when I looked into his eyes. This was a battle he was willing to take, no matter the possible consequenses.

"No… No doubt at all" I mumbled finally, letting him pull me closer.

"Good. Now, let's open our presents and forget about that" He smiled as he handed me a big square box.

I looked down at in wonder. What could it possibly be?

"No, mine first, please!" I said with a smile. I handed him a much smaller box, though if I knew him right, he would be just as ecstatic about the contents as I would later be.

It was a small box, the size you would expect trinkets or other jewelry to lie within, but the contents actually wasn't anything as girly as that. When Kyouji opened the small box, his face lit up in excitement.

I had been on a lucky streak at one point in GGO and won a few very rare and powerful weapons from one of the gambling machines in the main city, which the card I had now given him, let the ownership of said weapons now go to Kyouji. In essence, I had given him a few very rare weapons for GGO for his Christmas present, so now he could become even stronger.

He immediately wrapped me in a tight hug and laughed.

"This is amazing Shino!" His eyes was glued to the card, the weapons shining up at his face "These weapons would have costed millions if I had to get them myself!"

I smiled and let my body lean into his embrace.

"I know you love GGO, so I literally had no idea what to give you" I said with a small smile "I was lucky enough to get these in the gambling district"

"You are awesome!" he hugged me once again and surprised me, possibly even himself, with a kiss to my cheek "This is the best Christmas present someone could give me!"

"I'm glad you like it. Now, what about my gift?" I smiled in excitement as he brought the box up to my hands.

"I hope you like it. It wasn't cheap" He said with a smirk.

I looked down at the box with a wondering expression. If it was that expensive, then…

The lid came off flawlessly, and I almost teared up at the sight. At the bottom of the box was a beautiful dark green off-shoulder dress with strings covering the open back. The arms ended out in gloves covering the palms and ending in free fingers, resulting in a graceful look. I looked up at Kyouji for a moment before reading the card:

"_To Sinon_

_Merry christmas. I know I've been busy these last few months, and for that, I apologise. You've met my parents._

_Anyway, I wanted to wish you a merry Christmas, and an even better new year. Now that we've finally managed to come together as a couple, I cannot wait for what crazy insane adventures the future will bring._

_I truly love you. Shino or Sinon, it doesn't matter. I've always admired the person you are. You are admirably strong. To have the want to become stronger like you do, is truly admirable._

_The fact that we've finally managed to come together, is something I've been hoping and striving for, for years now. And now that we finally did it, I couldn't be happier._

_To celebrate our newfound relationship, and partly to see you in your new dress, I hope you will accept my invitation to the Christmas ball in the neighboring town over, on New Years Eve. I want my very first seconds in the new year, to be with you._

_Can't wait._

_Yours truly, and forever_

_Shinkawa Kyouji."_

_**A/N**_

**Hey guys! Alright, so listen to this.**

**I know I'm a little late with this Christmas special but meh, what can you really do?**

**Anyway, this is the first part of a two part chapter, the next part being released either on January 1****st**** after new years, or next month, depending on how much time I have these next few days, so look forward to the next one. **

**Anyway, thank you guys once again for reading, and see you next time!**


	45. Christmas Special 2 - Part 2

Sword Art Online

After The Incident

Christmas Special 2 – An Invitation – Part 2

~Sinon's POV~

I had been staring down at the card for a long time, or at least that's what it felt like. All the while, Kyouji had been excitedly expecting my answer, sitting by my side. I could feel that his gaze kept shifting between the card and my face, and I hated letting him wait.

Though it was not exactly something I could control. I was stricken with a mix of surprise, shock and complete bewilderment. I was unable to say or do anything for the longest time, only staring down at the wonderful gift my partner had given me.

I gave him a quick glance, and his eyes widened as our gazes met.

"S-Shino, are you crying?!"

I widened my eyes at his words, and my fingers immediately shot up to grace over my cheek. I hadn't even realized it, but big lukewarm tears had begun running down my cheeks, spotting my skirt and my hand with silent plops.

I gulped a little and hurried to wipe my face before I smiled up at Kyouji and gave him a quick hug.

"I-I'm fine, really" I assured him, before looking up at him "And if you want me to, I'd love to go to that ball with you"

His face lightened up and he nodded quietly, a blush running over his cheeks.

"Awesome! So uhm, they're about to light the tree. Let's go"

He smiled and took my hand, before helping me up. Our arms were immediately linked as we walked over to the tree, to watch it light up. The happiness in my chest was impossible to describe with words alone.

~New Years Eve~

My stomach felt like it was twisting around itself all the way to the ball. I knew it wasn't anything fancy, the donating family had rented the town hall, letting us use the dining hall as a dance floor and buffet, so I knew it would be a big place. But I had this nagging suspicion that I would be standing out, no matter where I would be, because of this dress.

It was grandiose, elegant. And worst of all, it was attracting attention. Just in the cab ride to the town hall alone, the driver shot me several glances, looking me over, again and again. As much as I appreciated Kyouji's gesture with the gift, I doubted I would ever use it outside certain situations, like future dates with him, and for his sake only.

Finally the cab came to a halt, and I quickly stepped out, and handed the driver what I owed him. With a quick "Have fun", he smiled and drove off to the location of his next customer.

I looked down at myself for the millionth time that evening. I felt so bare in that dress. It fit my body and my "Curves" so well, I could barely have anything on beneath, not even a bra. The whole point behind the dress was to seem graceful, elegant, and sexy. Three things that had never really been a part of my image, at least not in the real world. But putting on a bra and letting it show through the dress, would ruin the graceful image the dress was trying to show off.

The dress was a perfect mix of elegance, charm, and sex appeal. And just the curious looks from the people around me as I approached the city hall was enough to send my heart racing. If this had been GGO, I doubt I would have hit anything at all in this state.

My self-consciousness was through the roof, as I didn't really think of myself as the typical "Bond Babe". Though I was so affectionate with Kyouji at this point, that I was willing to go through the nervousness at least this once. Tonight was supposed to be a magical evening after all.

"If only this was GGO" I mumbled to myself silently, as I adjusted my glasses on the tip of my nose "Having my sniper rifle in such a situation would make me feel much safer"

"I will just have to protect you a bit better, then"

I widened my eyes and yelped as a guy I had never seen before was suddenly standing right beside me, sending me a glance and a smirk. I jumped a bit away from him in surprise, and I shot a glare at him, pissed that he had shocked me like that.

"W-What do you mean by that?" I mumbled, a mix of anger, nervousness and irritation rising in my chest.

"Come on cutie, you know what I mean" He said with a smirk, stepping closer "You can't be here alone right?"

I frowned and jerked away as he grabbed out after my arm.

"L-Leave me alone" I mumbled in uncertainty "G-Go be someone else's problem"

"Come on, I can't let such a beautiful girl be alone" He totally ignored me, and grabbed my wrist "Come on, let's go inside and-!"

He never managed to finish his sentence. Before any of us had registered what had happened, Kyouji was suddenly standing right beside me, and ripped his grip off of me, pushing him backwards away from me, and standing in front of me protectively as he glared daggers into the guy's eyes.

The guy who had "Assaulted" me glared back at him after he regained his composure, and pulled his shirt and undershirt back in place, before stomping up to Kyouji and getting all up in his face.

"What the hell, you little shit!?" he growled angrily "What are you doing!?"

"I'm sorry, but you're annoying my date" Kyouji said, even though I could physically see how much his knees were shaking "It would be much appreciated if you would leave now"

The guy laughed a little and pointed into Kyouji's chest hard, making him visibly winch.

"Oh yeah?! And who's gonna make me?" He asked, puffing himself up and making himself seem as big and as strong as possible "A little weakling like you?"

I could see the frustration in Kyouji's eyes. As much as I liked him, he wasn't any bodybuilder or weightlifter. I could almost see how the confidence he had earlier from his building anger, had disappeared the minute the guy got all up in his business.

I decided not to simply be a damsel in distress and took Kyouji's arm, letting him know that I was here as well to give him moral support.

"If you don't get out of here, I might just get you kicked out for disturbing the peace" I said, giving Kyouji's arm a little squeeze "There are bodyguards here after all"

He raised an eyebrow a little before looking around. Truth be told, several guards were standing by the door to the entryway, and one of them was looking his way.

He cleared his throat and huffed before pushing past Kyouji and getting out of our way. I sighed and felt my anger be replaced with relief, as I looked up at Kyouji.

"Are you okay, Kyouji?" I asked silently, looking up at him in worry "That guy was such an asshole"

He nodded silently and took a deep breath to calm himself down.

"I should ask you that, Shino" He mumbled silently "What a gentleman, huh?"

"Ha, what a joke" I mumbled in irritation "Well anyway, let's just get inside before we attract any more attention"

He nodded quietly and smiled before we turned and walked up the steps to show the guards our invitations. We quickly got inside, and found a place to settle down, in the dining hall to the entranceway's left.

Once we settled down at a table, Kyouji smiled over at me and immediately took my hand over the table, to make the both of us relax. I noticed a faint pink rose up in his cheeks.

"I haven't had a chance to say it yet, but…" he said, obviously distraught "You look amazing Shino"

I blushed quietly and smiled as I squeezed his hand.

"You did choose this dress after all" I mumbled, a little embarrassed "And I'm glad I chose to wear it. I might need to get used to go over my own boundaries"

"You were considering to put something else on?" He asked in confusion.

"Well, yeah…" I mumbled, poking and pulling a little at the dress "it is very… Revealing, don't you think?"

His smile curled up into a smirk.

"Something like that has never seemed to bother you in GGO" He said with a chuckle.

I blushed dark red and glared at him.

"That's because it's not my actual body!" I said, embarrassed "Besides, people don't know who I really am in GGO. Who I am underneath…"

I trailed off a little, getting reminded how weak I used to be before I began playing GGO. The girl that let other people boss her around. The girl who never refused, the obedient little girl without a backbone, the girl who could be beaten into submission.

I felt a squeeze at my hand and I looked up at Kyouji with a blush.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with you" he said with a warm smile "You're stronger than you think. If you were so weak like you think you are, how could you show that guy off earlier?"

I blushed quietly at his praising words. It is true, several months before, I would probably not have had the guts to put my feet in the ground against that guy.

"I guess you're right" I mumble silently "Sorry Kyouji, I have my moments, you know…"

He nodded quietly and smiled, once again squeezing my hand protectively "How about we forget about all that, and go get something to eat? They have a buffet! I'm gonna eat like crazy today!"

I giggled quietly at his overexcited banter, and followed after him as he jogged up the buffet table, shaking my head at him a little. As childish as he could be at times, that was just one of the quirks I liked about him. His parent's pressure on him had made him mature rather quickly despite his age, so it was nice that he let out the childish excited side of himself I knew from childhood every once in a while.

When I finally met him at the buffet table he had already scooped over several servings of fancy shrimp with some kind of red sauce, and a big helping of salad on the side. At least he thought of being healthy while stuffing his face.

After we ate, and the sky outside had already turned a pleasant dark blue hue filled with stars, Kyouji looked over at me with a smile.

"hey Shino, would you like to go for a walk?" He asked with a smile "They have a very pretty garden out back"

I nodded quietly and raised myself from my seat with a smile.

"That sounds lovely" I said, drawing a hand over my forehead to wipe a drop of sweat "It's gotten surprisingly hot in here"

He smiled and walked up to my side, and offered me his arm, which I immediately accepted. And soon enough, we were on our way to the gardens.

It was not a very big place, but it was still peaceful and beautiful out here. The back garden opened up to a small wooden area, tall trees with vines hanging off of their branches, giving the whole area a sense of serenity and silence. A breeze ran over the area, and I closed my eyes as I listened to the wafting of the trees, their song silently whispering to the couple walking among them. We were all alone. This place was ours, and ours alone.

I sighed silently and shivered a little from the wind, and Kyouji smile as he wrapped an arm around me, and let me lean into his body. I smiled quietly and hummed in satisfaction.

"This is so nice…" I mumbled silently "The crowd was getting to me in there"

"The peacefulness of silence, huh?" He said with a smile "I'm just happy that I'm here with you, you know? I'm not even sure how long I've been crushing on you…"

I blushed quietly and smiled as we walk under the branches of a large tree in the back of the garden, with the view expanding to the entire garden, and the big towns hall. It was quiet out here, and it seemed like the two of us were completely alone.

"You know, I still don't know why that is the case" I mumbled as we leaned against the trunk of the tree "I really don't know what is so great about me…"

His eyes turned dead serious and he grabbed both my hands in his as he turned to me, making me look up at him.

"You want to know why?" he asked, his piercing gaze keeping my own gaze in place "Because you're you! You're the only person who's ever cared about a weakling like me. You are the strongest person I know! Even when you're beaten down, you get back up, stronger than ever!"

I widened my eyes as he continued his rambling. Every statement, every point, and every word made me blush more and more, making me feel more and more overwhelmed with feelings. I gazed downwards so he wouldn't see the tears that I could feel creep up into the corners of my eyes.

As he finally put a finger under my chin and lifted my face up so he could see me properly, I quickly wiped away the tears and locked my gaze into his once again.

"…And I might be young and inexperienced when it comes to love," He mumbled "But I know that the feelings I store here, right here, in my heart, are real. And those feelings tell me that you're the girl I want to be with, forever if that's possible"

I got overwhelmed once again, but didn't bother wiping the tears this time. I suddenly felt an overwhelming want, a want to embrace and to touch my partner. I wrapped my arms around his neck and leaned my body against his chest, our faces only mere inches apart.

"You know what?" I asked silently, letting the scent of his cologne run through my mind.

He smiled softly and shook his head, the contact between us unbreakable.

"No, what?"

I leaned up and whispered in his ear, my breath tickling his skin.

"I love you…"

He blushed and looked down at me with a surprised expression. We had been dating for months at this point, but I had never told him so directly or openly about my feelings. None of us had ever told the other directly that we loved each other. Now here at this magical New Year's evening, I had finally said it.

His surprised expression melted into a smile and he teared up as he looked down at me.

"I love you too Shino… I always will"

I smiled quietly and closed my eyes. I wanted him to take the final step. I wanted to see more of the brave boy I had seen earlier that evening, and I wanted to help him build up his courage in the future. And I smiled a little as I felt his lips press against my own.

'Finally…'

That thought ran through my head in a moment of relief and happiness. It had been something I had wanted for a long time, but also something I had been unable to find the right situation to do. To feel his lips against my own, in our very first kiss ever.

It was perfect.

Fireworks began lighting up the sky over us in an explosion of every color of the rainbow, but I didn't hear the thunderous bangs. Everything around us was shut out, leaving only us in a space that belonged to us, and only us, if only for a few fleeting seconds. The world was ours. And no one could take it from us.

"Happy New Year Kyouji…"

"Happy New Year Shino…"


	46. Chapter 44 - Yui The Pixie Queen

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 44 –_ _Yui, The Pixie Queen_

~That following morning, at the cabin. Kazuto's POV~

As much as a strain on my body and mind I knew it was, I couldn't help but sleep in the cottage that night, holding Yui close to my chest. Sadly, as much as Asuna wanted to do the same, she told us she simply couldn't. Her mother was very against her even playing VR games at all between the SAO incident and my ALO kidnapping, and everything in-between, so just the fact that she could even go online was beyond lucky.

In return, she promised Yui and I she would be online early to cuddle with us and wait for us to wake up. And I did indeed look into her deep chestnut eyes the moment I opened my own raven ones.

"Good morning…" I said with a smile "How long have you been awake?"

"I woke up at 8 this morning" She said with a giggle "I only took a shower, before jumping back in my Pj's and logging in"

"Well, at least you still tend to personal grooming" I said with a smirk, before leaning over and pecking her lips.

She hummed silently against my lips before I pulled away and gazed down at Yui, who was comfortably nuzzled between the both of us, a happy sigh escaping from her lips as she held onto my shirt a bit tighter.

"Daddy…"

I smiled and kissed her scalp softly.

"I'm right here sweetheart" I whispered, running my fingers through her beautiful jet black hair.

"How long has it been since last we woke up like this?" Asuna asked, a gaze of nostalgia filling her eyes.

"More than 2 and a half years" I mumbled back as I continued to pet Yui gently "Do you miss it? SAO I mean?"

"As much as it hurt everyone…" She mumbled, her gaze falling "It still brought so much happiness to my life… Meeting you, getting to meet Yui… All those wonderful people… I would never have met my many friends, or you, or Yui, if it had not been for the commander…"

That was true. As truly sinister and completely insane Kayaba was, with the evil he had created, he had, subconsciously maybe, created a virtual world where people lived just the same as if they had lived in the real world, where their bodies were made of flesh and bone instead of a bunch of data, 1's and 0's.

People began adapting, developing, getting used to this new lifestyle. As much as people hurt, cried for the loved ones they were missing on the other side, as much as they fought to escape, they also lived as if Aincrad had been their home all along. There really was little to no difference between the virtual and the real world.

And even though Kayaba had not been able to remember the reason he would trap 10000 people in a virtual world, maybe that had been the point he had been trying to set. That the difference between reality and fiction, between real and virtual, was minimal. And that the human mind is able to adapt, no matter which trials it would be faced with.

As I finally let go of my thoughts and my mind returned to my bedroom in the cottage, Yui was slowly beginning to stir, opening her eyes and yawning quietly as she gazed up at us with a cute smile.

"Good morning, mommy, daddy" She said silently as she sat up between us, hugging us both close.

"Good morning Yui" Asuna whispered softly as she pressed Yui's body close to her own "Did you sleep well?"

"Well, as an AI," Yui said with a smile "I would only let my data flow pause for a moment… But it does give me relief of earlier exhaustion"

"Well, that's the fancy way of saying yes" I said with a laugh as I patted her head silently "Hey, what do you guys think we should do today?"

Yui put a finger to her chin and smiled a little, deep in thought, before she smirked and looked back up at me.

"I thought maybe we should test out this new program of yours" she said mischievously "Maybe we should try spawning a dungeon and challenge it!"

"It wouldn't be worth much if we come up with all the monsters and attack patterns ourselves though" Asuna mumbled silently as she thought it over.

"Oh I know!" I snapped my fingers as an idea began forming in my head "How about we create a dungeon, and get our friends to try it out!?"

"OH! That's a wonderful idea! " Asuna said excitedly "And we three could act as the dungeon's final bosses!"

"That sounds like an amazing idea!" Yui said as she raised her arms and acted as if she had claws "I'm gonna be a big scary monster! Rargh!"

I chuckled at her cute behavior and patted her head, ruffling her hair a little.

"Alright, let's make up stuff as we go" I said with a smirk "Asuna, we should log off for now and get some breakfast. While you invite our friends, Yui and I will form the dungeon"

"Sounds good. Yui, we'll be back in a bit, okay?" She said softly as we got up from the bed.

"I'll wait right here" Yui said, striking a salute before we logged out.

~That same evening, Kazuto's POV~

It had taken all day working all the details into the dungeon that Yui and I had created. We had used one of the basic dungeon forms, a decently challenging one, 5 stories deep, and with at least 10 monsters on each floor, mostly making them fairytale creatures and stuff of the like, in something that was supposed to look like a deep cave biome, the entrance opening up to a beach and the sea.

On the second-last floor, Yui had insisted that she would design her own mini-boss room, and I had reluctantly agreed to it. Since she was an AI, I had no idea what she would make out of the powers I had just given her as a dungeon creator and designer.

Since she had never used the sandbox program's interface before, I had thought I would have needed to explain how you'd operate it, but to my surprise she figured everything out relatively quickly. Within about 10 minutes she had created her own mini-boss room, the walls glittering and shining as they were made up of some of the prettiest stones and crystals I had ever seen.

The sides of the of the room had been decorated with big stone pillars, a couple of snakes made out of iron twisting their way down on each their own sides of each pillar. The ceiling of the room was dark, but spots of light could still be seen from the many sparking stones that had been embedded in the rock, almost making it look like a night sky in the real world.

A big carpet was rolled out from the door and up to a huge golden and sapphire embedded throne, where Yui's mini-boss avatar would welcome any player who dared step foot inside her territory.

"I have to say Yui, you've done a nice job with your boss room" I said with a smirk as I gazed over at her "I didn't expect you to get the hang of it so quickly"

"I am an MMORPG AI after all, daddy" She said with a sweet smile "Even though I'm a health counseling program, I have observed SAO for more than 2 years."

"Guess you would learn a trick or two about game design by that" I said with a nod "Anyway, let's get the others! The main boss room is done too"

"Good. I can't wait!"

~Later, in the dungeon. Klein's POV~

"Seriously, why did they have to make this place so creepy?"

I mumbled under my breath as the gang and I was walking over the cold ground of the cave that Kazuto and Yui had created. This was beyond uncomfortable. The monsters in here weren't so bad, but the cave itself was giving me the creeps. Who knew what messed up things Kazuto had laid in store for us?

"I'm starting to regret having helped Kazuto with this project" I said softly as I walked behind Lizbeth and Sinon to cover their rear ends.

"Come on Klein, don't be a wuss" Lizbeth teased with a glance back at me "We've dealt with things worse than this!"

"I know, but…" I hesitated a little. In the corner of my eye, it had looked like something had moved, but nothing now "I've been a target of Kazuto's cruelty before… That boy can be messed up when he wants to be"

"You're making him sound like some evil mastermind or crazy man" Sinon said coldly as she readied an arrow on her bow "He isn't that bad"

"I know but…" I mumbled silently "I still have this weird gut feeling…"

"You're thinking too much of it Klein" Kyouji said with a chuckle "I'm sure it'll be fine"

Ever since he and Sinon had hooked up, he had been joining a lot of our group online sessions. I didn't say that I had anything against the guy but… Some things are hard to forget just like that.

I frowned and huffed a little.

"Whatever, let's just get this over with and go home" I mumbled silently as I looked around the cold cave walls "I've gotten just about enough of this place-! L-Look out!"

I widened my eyes and immediately drew my sword to barely deflect an arrow, flying straight for Lisbeth's head. I did manage to deflect it somehow, but a few others was close behind, and with those I weren't as lucky, as they quickly pierced my shoulder plate and my shinguards.

"K-Klein!" Lisbeth yelled in surprise.

"Argh, damn…" The pain shot through my body weakly, but still enough to send me to my knee "He's even put on damage simulation… Level 2 or 3 I think…"

"Dude, are you okay?" Lisbeth mumbled worried as she helped me up.

I nodded silently and smiled.

"I'm fine, just need a potion" I mumbled as I rifled through my inventory.

As I was busy saving my own skin, the others had drawn their weapons and stood around me protectively, just as three enormous harpies swung down from the roof and began attacking with deafening screech-like screams. By the time I had recovered the others were taken quite aback, so I quickly jumped up and with a quick swing of my sword, decapitated its head and killed it, leaving us with only two more.

"Nice fighting Klein!" Sinon yelled this just as she firmly planted an arrowhead deep in the forehead of one of the other harpies, killing it as well.

It was rare, and nice, to get a compliment from Sinon like this.

"Damn, Kazuto isn't messing around" I mumbled as we finally disposed of the last harpy with our teamwork "Wonder what the boss battles will be like?"

"I'm a bit surprised Kazuto actually decided to implement pain in the dungeon" Silica mumbled as she put away her dagger "Maybe we should give up for now…"

"No, I'm not giving up now that we've come this far" I said with a frown "As much as I'm nervous about going forth, I'm determined to let Kazuto know I'm serious"

"Right, can't let him surpass us after all" Lisbeth said with a smirk "Come on Silica, we can still go on right?"

She patted Silica's back softly and earned a slight smile.

"Alright, let's get it over with…" She finally mumbled.

~Later, before the mini-boss room~

"We're finally here" Silica said with confidence in her voice "The last few floors haven't been too bad… Maybe this isn't all that hard after all"

"I don't know, something ain't right" I mumbled in response "No matter what, we gotta be careful"

"Yeah" Everyone agreed and nodded.

I put a hand to the door and got a surprise beyond surprises when the doors swung open to reveal a big open room, and a carpet leading up to a massive throne, with Yui sitting on it.

"Y-Yui!?"

"Welcome to my domain!" She said with her best attempt at an evil laugh "Hope you're ready for a battle of the century!"

"Woah, woah, woah, I'm not hitting kids!" I objected, but this only made Yui's smile brighter.

"It'll just make it that much easier for me to defeat you then" She said with a smirk.

The air suddenly began picking up and shifting around us, and tens of pixies suddenly began spawning all around her.

"Minions, protect your queen!" Yui yelled, as the forces moved forward, weapons raised.

"Holy hell!" I yelled as I grabbed my own weapon "Look out! They might be weak monsters, but they're great in numbers!"

We began scattering and took care of our own little group of pixies, ending up with about 5 or 6 pixies each to deal with, besides the queen herself, or Yui in this case. She had suddenly grown taller, and resembled an older version of herself, an around 30 year old woman with long back hair and glowing dark eyes as pixie wings suddenly began growing out of the back of her graceful long green dress.

Everywhere around me, my friends were dealing with their own problems, so when I caught a chance, I dodged out of the way of one of the pixie's attacks and charged straight for the queen.

"Take this!"

Just as I swung my sword, a barrage of pixies shielded Yui, just as my attack almost connected to her three-barred life points. They had completely blocked off my attack, on behalf of a few pixies, who slowly after began drifting to the ground and exploded out of existence.

"As long as I have pixie minions, you will never get to me!" Yui said with a laugh "No wonder father battles all the time, this is fun!"

Just as the pixies blocked my attack, they send me flying with their own attack, and I hit the opposite wall with a heavy thud.

"Aow…" I mumbled, my life bar had taken about 20 percent damage "AS much as you praise your pixies, they're not exactly capable of one-hit kills"

"That might be true, but there's more where those came from" Yui said with a smirk "Every 5 minutes, another 20 pixies will spawn. So you would better get to slashing, my dear Klein"

It almost seemed like her entire personality changed when she transformed into The Pixie Queen. Instead of a timid and cute little girl, she had now become a confident fighter, and this new personality apparently liked toying with it's opponents.

"Oh I will" I turned to the others "Make sure to kill as many pixies as quickly as possible. Forget about Yui for now!"

"Got it!" Sinon and Ryouji had turned teamed up, and every time Sinon had to draw a new arrow, Ryouji was there to cover for her with his blade. They had a pretty good teamwork between them, so they held their own.

Lisbeth, Scilica and Pina had teamed up as well, and as soon as Scilica had exterminated a few pixies with the quick cuts of her dagger, Lisbeth was there to take out huge groups with her hammer. And the ones she missed, Pina would take care of with her water breath.

Which left Agil and I to team up, as we pressed against each other's back, being surrounded by about 20 pixies. We nodded to each other and began fighting as if our lives depended on it, Agil's axe chopping down on one pixie after another, quickly exterminating them, and with a quick few swings of my swords, my group was also gone within an instant.

The others had quickly been worn down though, and I turned towards the queen, charging directly at her. Yui shot a few magic shots my way, but I either dodged or deflected them with my sword. Within a few seconds I was within reach, and began attacking visciously, chipping away at her life points.

She didn't seem to feel any pain though, and when I swung downwards towards her head, she simply grabbed my blade, and yanked it out of my grip.

"Dammit!" I just managed to choke out those words before she blew me away with her magic, and sending me flying.

"KLEIN!" A scream rang through the battlefield, and Lisbeth immediately charged towards Yui in retort.

Her swings were much slower than my own though because of the weight of her hammer though, and when Yui was about to blow her away as well, Agil rushed in and blocked with the broad side of his axe blade. Scilica, Sinon and Pina were in hot pursuit, Pina and Sinon each delivering their own shots of attacks while Scilica rushed in and placed a few well-placed stabs to the queens legs with her dagger.

This was immediately followed by Kyouji's lightning quick stabs with his rapier, and I immediately finished off the group attack with my own precise sword skill, Finishing Poison Blow. I managed to connect though it didn't finish her off, and she growled as she pushed us all off of her with her magic. We were blown away, and landed several meters away from her, and each other.

"Simple-minded fools" She said challengingly "You mortals stand no chance against me!"

"Hehe, I wouldn't be so sure…" I mumbled silently "Take a look at your healthbar"

She raised an eyebrow in confusion and gazed up at her lifebars. Her second lifebar was depleted, and she only had about 30 percent life left in her last lifebar.

"Yes? I have 30 percent life left in my lifebar, so what?"

"You fail to realize which sword skill I used on you" I said with a smirk "I just used Finishing Poison Blow. It can only be activated when your opponent is below 5 percent HP left, and if you don't manage to kill me, your life will deplete, until you are killed."

"No matter, I will just heal and-!"

"Don't think so." I said with a smirk "Healing items and spells don't work as long as the sword skill is in play. It took me weeks to farm for materials to get this skill, and it's all paid off!"

"Darn, so you tricked me!"

"Damn straight I did!" I said with a laugh "You'd better find out something, and fast. Or else you can kiss your lifepoints, and the victory, goodbye!"

**A/N**

**Hey everyone! Thank you for reading!**

**Sorry, once again, that this has been on such a hiatus. I had a hard time coming up with any kind of plot for this story just yet, and I'm trying to come up with a nice transition for the next amount of feels and drama, so you guys better watch out! Just a few more chapters of filler, I promise! xD**

**Once again, thank you for reading, and I'll see you next time.**


	47. Chapter 45 - Ares and Mercuria

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 45 – Ares and Mercuria_

~The mini boss room, Klein's POV~

As I had suspected, Yui didn't find a cure against my poison finishing blow skill, because frankly, there is none. It's one of the most powerful poison based sword skills I know of, and until now, I had had yet to find a situation I found it necessary to use it.

And she didn't manage to cure it in time. As her final hp depleted, she left out a scream, and we watched in victory as her avatar sent a rain of glass out on the battlefield, and the light illuminating the stones in the walls and the room, disappeared with her avatar.

We slayed her final pixies and slowly collapsed to the ground in tiredness.

"Whew… That was tough…" Lizbeth mumbled silently, leaning against her hammer.

I was just lying on the ground, exhausted, my breath deep and irregular.

"Yeah… No joke…" I mumbled, a drop of sweat running down my face "And that was just the miniboss… Kazuto and Asuna are both waiting for us, deeper inside"

"Nah, no need to worry" Kyouji chuckled as he wiped a bit of sweat off of his forehead "We can beat those two, no sweat"

"Dude, you're literally sweating from the mini boss" Lis said with a raised eyebrow "What makes you think the main boss will be any different?"

"Touché"

Eventually, we finally managed to catch our breath, and eventually made our way past the throne in the room, and moved towards the back, where a huge gate had appeared, the visage of rising fire breathing dragons having been carved into the thick metal.

"Hmph. Showoff" I mumbled silently "Alright, so this is the boss room. Everyone ready?"

"Barely able to catch our breath, and already facing the last bosses?" Scilica mumbled with a sigh "Pina, make sure to cast as much support magic as you can!"

Pina made a little cry and nuzzled Scilica's cheek before landing on her shoulder and readying her tiny claws.

"You're lucky to have a partner like that, Scilica" Kyouji said with a chuckle as he reached out to pet Pina's head.

Pina growled a bit and snapped at his fingers. I guess she didn't completely trust him yet.

"Pina! That's not nice!" Scilica scolded her, making Pina's head and wings droop in shame.

"No it's okay Scilica. I understand why she don't trust me yet"

As much as he told her that everything was okay, he really seemed to be down about the whole thing. I understood why Pina was so suspicious though. You don't go from kidnapping someone, to playing online games with them in two days' time. As much as the others had seemed to grow a liking to him, I knew that deep down, we still found reasons to find him suspicious.

"Let's just get this over with."

I finally said these last words and pushed open the massive gate, before stepping into the darkness.

~Two hours earlier, on the hills surrounding the cottage. Kazuto's POV~

A tingle ran up my spine, and a breath I hadn't realized I had been holding, escaped my mouth in a sigh as a wind ran over the area, thoroughly chilling me and my partner as we sat in the tall grass besides one another. Asuna shivered a little, and I smiled as I wrapped an arm around her shoulder, shielding her from the cold breeze. In response, she hummed softly and leaned her head onto my shoulder.

The sun was currently setting over the beautiful landscapes of floor 26, the floor of Aincrad that meant most to me in the entire game. Of course, this was only a replica, but Asuna didn't seem to mind since she hadn't exactly voiced out any complaints.

Somewhere in the distance, Yui was flying around excitedly, making sure to put the flying ability I had implemented into the system to good use. Apparently, Yui was very excited to fight the others, being the mini boss and all. At first I thought that it was just because she had taken a liking to fighting, but after talking with her I realized it was because she had never had to face them before, herself.

It almost felt like one of those which you call "A proud dad moment". I was about to watch my daughter go into her first battle as a mini-boss, and face off with my friends. It gave me a strange feeling of pride, one I was not used to.

"It's been one hell of a few years huh?" Asuna suddenly mumbled, and I looked over at her, surprised.

"What makes you think about that all of a sudden?"

"This sunset, the serenity of the surroundings…" Asuna mumbled, an insecure frown running over her features "It makes me think to enjoy them while we still can…"

"What do you mean, Asuna?"

I frowned quietly from hearing her say these words. How long had she been thinking like that? And did she often think about everything we had been through? It worried me a little.

"Well, it's just…" She mumbled, sighing as she lifted her head off my shoulder "We've been through so much together.. You and I, and our friends…"

I nodded quietly and waited for her to continue.

"I just feel…" She mumbled, hesitating "That we've made enemies that we can't escape from"

I frowned quietly. I did not understand at all.

"I mean, take The Laughing Coffin for example" She mumbled softly "We both faced them in battle before… Both of us have their blood on our hands… We killed people, Kazuto…"

I closed my eyes and nodded again. There was nothing else I could do at this point.

"I just think, with all this going on…" I widened my eyes as I realized a tear was appearing in the corner of her eye "I'm just afraid that we'll have to live in fear for the rest of our lives. That whenever we think we have a peaceful moment, it will be swooped away by some other crazy lunatic who will want revenge for something we did. Because we made enemies with the wrong people…"

I let go of her shoulder and instead took her hand in my own, squeezing tightly as I reached over and forced her to look at me. She looked at me, surprised by my sudden forcefulness, before I kissed her deeply, a shake running through her body before she settled into it, and began leaning into me as well.

After a short while I pulled away from her and leaned my forehead against hers, while staring deeply into her eyes.

"Listen to me Asuna." I mumbled as I stared into her eyes with a serious expression "I might be the one who usually worries about this kind of stuff, but I promise you, I PROMISE you, whoever comes; we'll be able to get through it together."

"Kazuto, that's not what I'm worried about!" She teared up even more and closed her eyes "I know we can take on anything as long as we're together… But our past will continue to haunt us!"

I frowned quietly and growled from frustration. It was true, there was a possibility that our old enemies would continue to hunt us down, time after time.

"Do you remember my dream, Kazuto?"

I nodded silently. This was her most important dream. She wanted to bring Yui into the real world, and eventually move into the country, getting to have an actual family together, just the three of us. Away from our past, away from everything. Maybe even from games and from our friends. It didn't matter as long as the three of us were together.

"Of course I do" I mumbled squeezing her hand again "What does that have to do with this though?"

"Imagine if we succeed in making that dream a reality" She mumbled softly "If our enemies keeps coming back… What kind of life would that be for Yui? How can you grow up through that!?"

She looked away from me as her tears began to trail down her cheeks, but before she could panic, I forced her to look at me again.

"Asuna, you're worrying about a situation that will happen maybe tens of years in the future!" I said, a little louder than I had wanted "You can't walk around and worry about it so much. You will go crazy eventually! I almost did!"

She looked at me shocked. I guess I had yelled even louder in the end. The tears had stopped rolling down her face, but was still quickly gathering in the corners of her eyes, so I quickly kissed them away, and wiped the tearstains with my thumbs.

"Asuna, I swear to whatever higher entity that might be out there…" I mumbled softly, trying to sound as genuine as possible without yelling at her again "I will always, ALWAYS, be there to protect you and Yui. And I swear, whoever wants to hurt you, will come to regret that they ever crossed swords with me. Do you understand?"

Her shocked expression softened and she nodded softly. A breeze picked up her hair, along with the beautiful flower petals flying up around us.

"Sorry, I just…" She mumbled as she leaned into my hand "I just feel like we've been through hell…"

"I know Asuna, of course I know" I quickly wrapped my arms around her body and squeezed her in a hug "I'll always be there for you, okay?"

"Okay…"

~Present moment, the boss room. Kyouji's POV~

I was pretty sure that I was more nervous than many of the people that were currently present in the boss room. They didn't have anything to prove, after all. But this final boss encounter would finally let me prove to Shino, that I was finally strong enough to protect her, from anyone, and anything.

"Hey, Kyouji?" I blushed a little as I realized Shino had taken my hand from behind "You okay? You've grown so silent all of a sudden"

"Yeah, I'm fine" I nodded a bit and smiled back at her "I guess I have a bit of a rivalry with Kirito… This time, I can finally prove I'm stronger than him"

"Kyouji, you know I already told you…" She looked up at me worried as she pulled me aside "You don't have to prove yourself to me…"

I blushed a little. Once again, she saw right through me. I hated when she did that. It pretty much secured her victory in whatever childish banter we were in.

"S-Sinon, I need to do this…" I mumbled, a frown forming on my brows "I don't only want to prove myself to you, but… I also want to prove myself to… Well, myself"

"Huh?" She frowned silently, apparently not understanding "I'm not sure I follow…"

"Well, I know I'm strong. I want to protect you. So, to prove that I'm strong enough, I need to win this…"

"That literally sound like every action main hero ever" She said with a giggle before shaking her head and letting go of my hand "If you're sure. Just don't do anything reckless okay?"

I nodded quietly and flashed her a confident smile, before she drew an arrow and readied it on her bow. We had completely forgotten that we had already stepped into the boss room, and I widened my eyes when I heard two sets of footsteps approaching.

"Here they come, guys!" Agil said as he drew his axe "Get ready for anything!"

I frowned quietly and drew my rapier. Having transferred my stats from GGO, I was still one of the fastest players around, so I trusted my rapier to at least do some damage to whatever Kirito and Asuna would turn into or summon.

Still, I was a bit nervous. But having Shino by my side definitely helped. Especially when she, when everyone didn't pay attention to us, leaned up and kissed my cheek softly, making me explode in red.

"For good luck" She said with a smile.

I blushed quietly and parted my lips to reply, but suddenly two shadows emerged from the darkness, and everyone stood on alert as they drew their weapons. Soon the two shadows stepped into the light. It was Kirito and Asuna, both wearing confident smiles as they held each other's hand. But they seemed different somehow.

They were both taller and seemed more mature in their facial features. Kazuto had a more serious look on his face and a few stubbles here and there, a wicked dark glow in his eyes as he glared us down. His hair had also grown considerably, reaching down to his shoulders and easily covering one of his glowing wicke eyes.

Asuna had also grown quite a bit, her legs a bit longer and god forbid I say this in front of Shino, but her chest was also a bit bigger and more developed than what it had been. She had also had colored a flame red color into most of the front of her hair.

"Welcome adventurers" Kirito said with a confident smirk "Good work on passing our daughter, the pixie queen. You must be very powerful indeed"

"Geez, what a showoff" Klein said with a wave of his hand "Why don't you stop being all dramatic so we can start fighting?"

Kirito had an annoyed expression as he glared at Klein.

"No, that would force me to go off script!" He hushed Klein before continuing "Ahem, but your journey stops here! Me and my empress will take you all down!"

"That's right!" Asuna nodded, despite having a blush on her cheeks "Prepare to face your downfall, pitiful mortals! Oh the fun I will have with torturing you!"

A wicked smile crept up on both of their faces before they jumped backwards and landed on each their own huge throne in the back of the boss room. Asuna raised her left hand, and armor began materializing over them, while before there had only been their normal everyday clothes.

Kirito's armor was jet black, just like his hair, with red streaks and patterns all over it, and he held his helmet under his left arm while drawing his two swords, the trusted Dark Repulser and Elucidator.

Asuna, while drawing her own rapier, The Lambent Light, a white armor, the same as Kirito's, materialized around her, having blue streaks and textures instead of red like Kirito's.

As I drew my own rapier and was about to dash forward for attack, several dark rays of light suddenly appeared on the ground around circles which could resemble something like teleport circles, and out of them crawled some of the most realistic skeleton and decaying zombie monsters I had ever seen. Each of the minions carried a sword or axe along with a metal shield, which was either rotten or covered with green moss or algae.

Not only that, but each of the minions bore a set of wings on their backs, much resembling the pixies Yui had used against us, but these wings were either visibly broken, or decaying from the inside, with see-through holes in them

"Damn, so not only Yui can summon minions huh?" I mumbled silently "What's wrong Kirito!? Too afraid to face us without an army!?"

"Silence mortal! You shall face my undead army of fairy corpses!" Kirito shouted in response to my taunt "You are now facing the rulers of this underground cave!"

Their names suddenly appeared in the air above them with great extravagance, and I frowned once I saw them.

"Corrupted King and Queen: Ares and Mercuria!"

**A/N**

**Hey guys, so I finally updated again! Hope you guys didn't get too anxious from excitement xD**

**Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this month's chapter. I don't quite know about the quality of this, but it is what it is when you're hit with writer's block.**

**So, thank you for reading my stories, and keep reading!**


	48. Chapter 46 - Releasing Your Rage

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 46 – Releasing Your Rage_

~The boss room, Klein's POV~

I instinctively raised my sword in preparation as the first rotten zombie pixie went directly for me, since I was in front. I growled and tightened the hold on the hilt, but just as I was about to feel the corpse's blow on my sword, the world around me suddenly grew dark, and I could see nothing but eerie shadows. I growled and looked around me in confusion, until I suddenly felt a sharp sting in my side.

"Argh, what the hell is happening!?" I growled and instinctively slashed at the shadow that had attacked me "HA! Down you go!"

"Klein is that you?!" I suddenly heard Liz's voice and the soft pling of the message "Team kill not activated." "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you, but you didn't have to bonk me on the head with your handle!"

"Shit, sorry Liz!" I mumbled in surprise as I drew back "I can't see a damned thing! What the hell is happening to me!?"

"HAHAHAHA" I heard Kirito's matured and dark laughter from the other end of the throne room "This is the power of my dark corruption magic! Anyone weak will surely perish!"

The darkness slowly began to disappear around me and I could finally see again. I rubbed my eyes just to make sure, and looked down at the message that had appeared in front of me and the others.

"Only warriors with strong wills and great power can resist the corrupt emperors shadow magic. Depending on your level, the blindness status effect will linger for longer whenever it's triggered by the emperor."

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" I screamed in annoyance and glared up at Kirito, the original creator of this debuff "This is way overpowered!"

He merely chuckled and smirked at me before raising his hand in command.

"Go, my dearest undead!" He yelled with a laugh "Turn them all to dust in your wake!"

At the exact moment Kirito had landed his command, an undead had quickly stridden up to me and heaved his blade in attack. I blocked and kicked him back, before sending my sharp sword across his abdomen and finishing him off quickly. I had only little time to celebrate though, as I was suddenly surprise attacked from behind by yet another undead. When had it gotten there!?

I was about to be struck down when Kyouji dashed over and delivered a swift kick to the kneecap of the undead, sending him off balance before ending him with a few quick stabs to the face and torso, and he looked over at me as our opponent quickly disappeared.

"There's no way around it" He said with a frown "We need to hold it together for now, and figure out these two's attack patterns!"

"Got it. What do you say we hold each other's backs for now?" I proposed.

He simply nodded at this before looking around him. Liz and the others were fighting a bit to my left, so we quickly hurried over to help them with the small horde that had been approaching them rapidly.

We quickly rid of the undead that had surrounded our friends, but the more we got rid of, the more there seemed to spawn. When we finally managed to break through and get a bite of fresh air, there had already spawned a new wave around Ares' and Mercuria's thrones.

"You are far too weak for my undead army!" Ares laughed in mockery as he looked over at his empress "Wouldn't you say so, my dear?"

"Maybe you could hold back a little bit" Mercuria said with a venomous smile "I want to take part in the slaughter as well"

"Well, with our profession, it would only be natural" Said Ares with another laugh "Alright then dear, go get them"

Mercuria giggled excitedly before drawing her rapier, and giddily jumping down from her throne, making a work out of seeming overly excited about killing us all in cold blood.

"Hurray! I get to play!" She laughed and smirked at us as she grew a vicious expression as she went into position "It'll be so much fun to drink your tears!"

I got shudders from her viciousness. I didn't know if it was the Asuna or Kirito's coding that were talking, but either way they had gotten way too into it.

"I told you this would be creepy as hell!" I whimpered as I tried to shake off the fear Mercuria was setting.

"Whatever Klein, we've dealt with worse before!" Agil said with a smirk as he raised his axe "Would you prefer a giant scythe-wielding skeleton scorpion over this?"

I gulped a bit as I reminisced about The Skull Reaper, and how it had killed several players with a single hit back in SAO's 74th floor.

"Uhh, you got a point" I mumbled silently.

"Enough with the chitchatting, already!" Sinon was a bit impatient and sent a barrage of arrows Mercuria's way "Let's end this quickly!"

I frowned quietly and nodded, before following the other's example and rushing forward towards Mercuria. She smirked and rushed forward as well, meeting me as we blocked weapons and stared into each other's eyes defiantly, mine full of determination, hers of murderous excitement.

Since her avatar was physically bigger than my own, she slowly began to overpower me and push me backwards. I growled a little but smiled as I felt the wind of my comrades rushing past me, about to deliver hell on earth.

Mercuria screamed as Lizbeth's mace connected to her ribs and send her stumbling backwards, trying to regain her footing. Agil rushed up and followed with an upwards slash with his axe, one that was drawn from way behind him, sending Mercuria stumbling back even further.

"Damn you! Take this you little shit!" Mercuria's calm psychopathy from earlier was gone and replaced with a blind rage.

She raised her hands and black and dark purple flames of energy appeared in her palms, before she pressed them to the ground, a wall of fire mounting in front of her! It rushed towards us in waves of fast heat, barely allowing us to dodge her attack. My left leg was caught in the blast and I yelled as I was blasted across the floor with immense strength.

I crashed against the ground hard, but groaned as I rolled backwards and swept back onto my feet using the momentum, panting a bit from having had the air knocked out of me. My hp quickly reduced down to about 60 percent.

"Holy mother of OP attacks!" I growled annoyed before getting back in action and charging once again "Stay the hell away from that fire!"

I growled angrily and in frustration. How the hell did she take off so much of my hp? I mean, I've seen worse things, but at the level she was at she should barely even have done a fourth of that with a single attack.

"This is insane!"

~Kyouji's POV~

"Sinon!"

I growled and tackled Shino out of the way of the incoming flame attack, just in time to avoid any real damage to be inflicted upon any of us. We fell to the ground with a heavy thud, before Shino growled at me.

"Dammit Kyouji…"

"Sorry, I freaked out" I mumbled apologetically as I looked down at her "Just… Please be careful okay?"

She nodded silently and brushed some of the hair in her face away and got back onto her feet, pulling me up by the arm as I chuckled embarrassed from how close we had been.

I couldn't believe I had panicked like that. I've always hated seeing Sinon put herself in danger, as fake and virtual as that danger might be. Whenever I saw Sinon about to be hit with something, I could feel every nerve in my body scream at my brain to jump in front of the attack and protect her instead.

But as much as I wanted to, I always tried to stay back from being that white knight in shining armor, riding in to protect her. I knew she wanted to become stronger. She hated when people babied her, and she would get really grumpy. She always wanted to do things alone, not that she was willing to learn from others, but when it came down to the wire, she would do things on her own.

I sighed silently as I watched her jump backwards and landed in the back of the room, readying a few arrows on her bow. I smiled quietly and sprinted up to Ares, stabbing her along the temples and hips a few times.

"Yo, you big corpse hoarder! Over here!" I smirked as she turned my way, and retreated backwards as several arrows exploded against Ares' back, sending her sprawled on the floor as her sword slid across the slippery tiles, far away from her.

"Damn you, you little…" Mercuria growled angrily, a red glow growing in her eyes, but before she could manage retaliation, Agil and Silica crowded her with barrages of heavy bladed attacks, followed with several magical debuffs from Pina. Loud screams followed as Mercuria stumbled backwards, growling as Agil raised his axe in attack.

A smirk suddenly appeared on Mercuria's lips as a staff began to materialize in her hand, and she swung upwards, quickly and easily parrying his heavy attack.

He widened his eyes and let out something that sounded like a surprised grunt.

"H-How…"

Before he could finish his sentence, Mercuria raised her hand and blasted him in the face with a fire spell, sending him flying. I ran past him and stabbed against her, but every time I stabbed she somehow managed to block or parry with the blade of her sword, which had magically appeared in her free hand.

"Damn, you're fast!" I said with an angry growl, instead activating a sword skill "Take this then! Illusory Stabs!"

I smirked as my blade glowed a dark purple, my form beginning to grow transparent. My smirk widened as my body began dividing into fives, four silhouettes of myself forming around Mercuria. She widened her eyes, not knowing what direction to turn to. Before she could think of a counter attack all five of my entities attacked at the same time.

Despite having both a rapier and a staff to parry with, she couldn't keep up with me for long, and eventually her defense began breaking down. Once I saw an opening I stabbed her between the rips, and let the other "Me's" attack as well, stabbing over and over and over again from all directions at the same time, hitting her neck, her sides, her stomach and back, causing her to scream in agony and pain.

We all jumped beside each other and attacked at the same time, before sending her flying in one direction, sending her sprawled against the floor tiles once again. We had taken off about 7 percent of her hp altogether.

I panted quietly and let my silhouettes before letting the others take over for a while. Agil ran over and smirked at me.

"Nice attack! But look out getting too close to her" he said as we turned our attention to the others as they fought back Mercuria. "She's gotta have incredible strength if she can parry my great axe like that"

"Yeah, I noticed that too" The two of us began running in the direction of the battle, but suddenly…

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

The sudden shout was from the top of the throne, Ares was standing with a furious expression in his features, his dark staff glowing menacingly as he slowly stepped down along the steps to his throne.

"You dare hurt my wife… my empress…" He said, his eyes glowing a menacing red "You dare come here and make a mockery of our powers!?"

I looked up at Mercuria's hp, realizing we had damaged her down to about 60 percent. Maybe this wasn't impossible after all! But as most rpg bosses, they changed attack patterns now that their hp was in danger. Now, Ares was joining the battle as well, and he was pissed off.

"Let me see how you like dealing with the most powerful dark magic emperor in the world!" He said, a pair of dark wings folding out from behind him "NOW YOU FACE ARES, THE CORRUPTED EMPEROR!"

I frowned silently as the darkness from before returned, and I could no longer see a thing. I groaned as a blade pierced my abdomen and I was sent flying backwards.

"W-What is this damage!?" I groaned as I hit the ground hard and slowly got back to my feet, the darkness around me fading away and revealing I had only 20 percent left, having had 75 percent before the attack.

"Klein has already suffered great hp loss" Silica mumbled as she came over and helped me up as she had Pina heal me a little, including a defense buff .

"You need to be extremely careful." I mumbled "He doesn't have much damage, but his attacks have an insane range and damage output. As long as you can stay away from his attacks and be nimble enough to get within striking range, this shouldn't be too difficult"

She nodded a little and frowned in worry as she turned to the boss monster.

"This is terrifying. Klein was right"

"SEE!? I TOLD YOU-! WOAH!"

Before Klein could boast anymore than that, he only just dodged another incredible fire attack from Mercuria, followed with a few magic bolts from Ares, one of them gracing his left.

"Damn it, would you piss off already!?" He yelled in annoyance as he raised his sword and parried it against Mercuria's blade, but still got caught by an incoming fire blast from Ares, his hp quickly approaching 0.

Mercuria raised her blade, but got caught in a new arrow barrage from Sinon, letting Klein escape their brutal attacks and retreat to heal up.

I sided with Agil and we attacked together, him pushing her off balance with his axe, allowing me to rush forward and stabbing her sides and chest, jumping out of the way of another attack from Ares.

Ares growled and screamed in anger as he flew forward, approaching rapidly. Sinon covered us with barrages of arrows, hitting him square in the face and chest, sending him crashing to the ground, stones and debris flying everywhere around him. In the meantime we continued our relentless assault on Mercuria, quickly bringing her hp downwards.

"Pina! Firebreath!"

Sinon and Scilica kept covering for us from afar, but suddenly the blindness effect returned, and their attacks completely missed, giving Ares an opportunity to attack us.

Since the effect hit everyone at the same time, the rest of the group couldn't cover for us either, so both Agil and I were quickly send backwards from the boss duo's viscious attacks, the debris under us cracking as we landed way behind our group, and our hp quickly depleting to the last 10 percent.

"Dammit… I'll need to heal before I can continue" Agil mumbled as he opened his menu.

I growled angrily as I gazed up at Ares, who just smirked at me mockingly. I could almost hear Kirito behind the mask of Ares, taunting me to keep attacking. Attack and die.

"Dammit all… No way I'm losing to that spoiled brat again!"

My anger was taking over my judgement and I growled as I burst forward again, towards Ares and completely ignoring Mercuria.

"Guys! Keep that bitch off me!"

Before they could even answer to my command I had raised my blade and raised right past her, dodging her magic attacks in a mix of purple flames and silver swings of my blade. I didn't know how, but I somehow managed to escape Mercuria's wrath with the most of my remaining hp intact, leaving me at about 7 percent.

That didn't matter to me though. I was gonna show that bastard. He was not as strong as he thought he was!

"Illusory Stabs!"

As I got into attack distance of Ares, or Kirito, I immediately activated my sword ability and began another ruthless assault, completely forgetting everything about defenses and keeping up my speed. He just smirked and easily parried with his staff or blocked with some sort of magic forcefield, and my attacks barely even did any damage.

"JUST DIE, DAMN YOU!"

My rage consumed me and I activated sword skill after sword skill, quickly draining my mp bar and most of my stamina.

"Kyouji! What the hell are you doing!?"

I could hear Sinon call out somewhere behind me, but I didn't care. I just wanted to take this smug bastard down!

"Shut up Sinon!" I growled as I was pushed off guard by his forcefield "This asshole is not stronger than me! I'll prove it to you!"

"But Kyouji, I-!"

Before she could manage to answer me, my last sword skill ran out of juice and I collapsed onto my knees. All of my mana was gone, and it would take a while for it to come back. I was down to last percento of hp, and I could barely even stand anymore.

Ares just stood over me and huffed arrogantly, before raising his staff to prepare his last attack.

"Game over, my friend"

A quick jab over my neck and my avatar collapsed and disappeared. I was dead.

~In the standby lobby, Kyouji's POV~

I sighed softly as I slowly opened up my eyes. I was in the standby lobby, made to look like Agil's bar. To my surprise, Asuna and Kirito was sitting up by the bar, waving at me with a smile.

"Guys? What are you doing here?" I asked in surprise as I walked up to them "Aren't you supposed to be battling the others right around now?"

"You mean the bosses?" Kirito asked with a smirk "You think I could ever hurt my comrades?"

My jaw hit the floor as I heard his words.

"T-Then… W-What was…"

"Simple AI programs" He said with a smirk "I could never be vicious enough to fill the shoes of an undead emperor"

"You see Kyouji, the moment we began to transform, we teleported out of there to give space to the actual bosses" Asuna explained "It's hard for us to actually hurt you guys, virtually or not, after what we've been through"

"So, we teleported here and decided to watch the battle from afar" Kirito said as he gestured up towards a monitor hanging behind the bar, showing a recording of the entire boss room, and the battle that was still ongoing.

"Oh… Yeah that makes sense" I mumbled softly, scratching my ear in embarrassment "So… You heard that last bit too?"

"Yeah, of course" Kirito said with a nod "Hey, I don't blame you. You've been through a lot too, I understand"

"Okay, good" I released the breath I had subconsciously held in.

"Come here and watch the last of the battle with us" Asuna suggested as she patted the seat to her left, Kirito sitting on her right "It seems they're pushed into a corner right now"

I frowned silently and nodded softly as I took my seat, gluing my gaze to the monitor.

"Come on Sinon…"


	49. Chapter 47 - When Darkness Falls

_**Sword Art Online**_

_**After The Incident**_

_**Chapter 47 – When Darkness Falls**_

_**~Sinon's POV~**_

I widened my eyes. Kyouji's avatar slowly collapsed and disappeared out of sight, having fallen to Kirito's homemade boss avatar. I growled silently, a rage building inside me.

"Dammit Kyouji…" I mumbled silently, putting another arrow on my bow "I told you to wait!"

I ran forward and cast a few support spells on myself for agility and reload speed, before going ham on the Ares boss, sending a new coverage barrage his way so he couldn't approach the main player group too early.

"Guys, I have a plan" I ran up to the others, who had all assembled somewhere in the back of the boss room "We should get rid of Ares first"

"And why the hell should we do that!?" Klein said with a growl, gazing over at Ares and suddenly shouting "Look out!"

We responded immediately and only just managed to dodge out of the way of a fireball sent with a friendly reminder that the Ares boss was actually not dead yet.

"Damn, they don't give up on us at all" Agil mumbled in spite "Klein has a point though. Why shouldn't we get rid of Mercuria first? She obviously has the biggest attack value with her flame wall."

"Don't you mean firewall?"

Everyone glared over at Liz' smug smirk at her own lame joke, and I just rubbed the bridge of my nose in annoyance.

"Not exactly the best time to make jokes, Rika" I said annoyed "Stay moving and listen to what I say"

They nodded and dispersed in each their own direction, confusing the bosses' targeting systems by swooping in and out of their range.

"Ares will keep covering Mercuria with his magic unless we take him down first. If we manage to kill him first, we shouldn't have much trouble overrunning Mercuria"

"It's true. We won't be able to get too close to Mercuria when Ares is dealing covering fire" Silica yelled, Pina covering her with buff magic "Mercuria might have flame wall magic, but it's range is small. If we can manage to keep our battle with Ares far enough away from Mercuria, we should be able to have some space to put him down."

"Alright, sounds like a plan" Klein yelled "And since Kazuto isn't around, I think I have the privilege of taking control as team leader!"

"You couldn't lead a team if your life depended on it, Klein!" Liz retorted sarcastically.

I could have sworn I saw Klein almost trip over his own legs from that insult.

"Agil, what do we do?" Liz yelled, ignoring Klein's pathetic whimpering behind her as he just barely dodged another magic attack from Ares "You showed some impressive leader skills back in ALO. Can you have control over the troops?"

"Sure" He nodded with a cool smile "Sinon, Scilica, use your weapon and dragon to cover Liz as she covers Ares! Klein and I will focus on Mercuria, and keep her off your back!"

"Sounds like a plan at least" Klein mumbled spitefully, still a bit annoyed by Liz's retort "Alright, come on Agil! Let's show this bitch what we're made off!"

He smirked and jumped out of the way of another barrage of fireballs, before beginning to sprint for Mercuria.

"Please be careful with their special condition as well!" Liz said as she began running in the opposite direction towards Ares "We can't let Ares' darkness get to us!"

"Let's do this!"

Everyone charged for the two bosses, and Lizbeth was the first to reach Ares. He raised his staff and sent a few fireballs her way, which she either dodged or deflected with her hammer or shield. She screamed as she buried her hammer in his side, sending him off balance. He growled and swung at her with his staff, but was caught off guard by my barrage of arrows.

I charged up to him and just as he raised his staff in preparation, I went into a ground slide and slid between his legs, activating my bow skill.

"Arrow Regen!"

I growled and retaliated as glowing arrow after glowing arrow shot off my bow after each other in quick succession, hitting him in the chest and eventually his back as I slid behind him and continued my attack from there. All the while Liz was attacking him from the front, dealing massive loads of damage, while Scilica and Pina was standing from afar and healing and buffing us with her magic.

"You damned pests!"

Ares used a magical wind blow to push Liz and I off him, before casting one of his own spells.

"So be it then!" He growled "If you're going to use arrows, I will too! Heavy Iron Storm!"

I gasped and looked up as I suddenly noticed several dark clouds form overhead, and I widened my eyes as hundreds of weapons, spears, daggers, swords, halberds, and especially arrows, were raining out of them, some of them as big as small cars!

"Everyone, take cover!"

I screamed and jumped out of the way , just managing to hide behind one of the pillars in the room, spears and other weapons lunging into it with loud crunches and crashes, pebble and dust raining everywhere, and all over me. Not everyone was as lucky though, and I growled as I watched an arrow pierced Scilica's shoulder. Luckily for her, the pain system wasn't on in present time.

"Urgh, somebody help!"

She yelped out and Pina was immediately there to rescue her, forming a barrier around herself and Scilica, protecting them both from some of the lighter weapons. The barrier wouldn't last long though, and just as a huge sword was about to land on her, Agil jumped up and slashed it out of course, managing to push it far enough for Scilica and Pina to escape the massive assault from Ares.

"HAHAHAHA!" Ares evil laugh rang through the roar of the weapons falling all around him "See them all cower in fear!"

"You bastard!" I growled and reached for my bow to shoot another barrage in his direction.

My bow was laying a few feet away from her, but just as I reached out to grab it, I felt the swish of a weapon rush through the air right by my cheek, almost gracing it, before ramming straight into my bow, snapping it in half.

"What the hell!?" I growled and turned to the boss "That was one of my favorite weapons, you dick!"

He just howled with laughter and taunted me to come and get him, and I really wanted to. But it was way too obvious that that was what he wanted me to do. He definitely had a plan in his sleeve if I actually took his bait, which I of course wasn't dumb enough to fall for.

"Nah, I don't feel like falling into your trap, Ares" I frowned and drew a spare dagger "Not used to get all close and personal, but I guess this'll do"

"Sinon!"

Scilica quickly ran over and helped me up by the arm.

"Are you gonna be okay?"

I ruffled her hair and nodded softly "Definitely."

I gazed up at Ares. He seemed overly confident. If only I could sneak up on him somehow.

"Hey, Scilica…" I mumbled "Could you distract him for a couple of minutes?"

"I-I think so, but…" She gazed up at Ares as well "What are you gonna do?"

"Well, what do people with knives normally do?" I say with a smirk "We make surprise attacks!"

I casted a quick illusion spell and disappeared out of everyone's sight, leaving a confused and surprised Scilica behind and as I sprinted between pillars as fast and silently as I could.

I watched Scilica, Pina and Lizbeth fight Ares to the best of their abilities, though they couldn't break through his defenses. He was way too quick, even despite his heavy armor covering his body. Despite that though, Ares' HP seemed to have depleted quite a way, around the 25-30 % mark. If I could just sneak up behind him and land an effective rogue ability…

I frowned silently and hid behind a pillar just as the timer on my invisibility ability had vanished. Good thing I decided to put some points into sneak abilities.

I waited for the ability to charge back up before activating it again and slowly sneaking up on Ares from behind. He was busy boasting towards Lizbeth as he pushed against her in a clash of weapons.

"Hahaha, where's your power now, little macer!?" He laughed "When I'm done with you, I'll collect your dust and feed it to my undead army!"

I growled as my illusion spell wore off and I yelled as I sprung forward and plunged my dager deep in-between his ribs in his side, resulting in him staggering and screaming in agony as he tried to keep himself from collapsing.

"AAAAARGH!"

He swung his arm backwards and I had no time to react as he backhanded my cheek and sent me flying into a nearby pillar.

"Argh…" I groaned and collapsed. I could have sworn I felt something snap in my back "Hehehe… Feed them that, you bastard…"

I collapsed onto my back and gazed up at my health bar on my HUD. It seemed I had gotten what is called "Broken" status. It basically impairs your ability to move and renders you unable to activate any abilities. It normally slows you down, but it can get so severe that it works the same way that if you had broken a bone. You just can't move that part of your body at all.

And in my case, it was my spine. I was paralyzed.

"Damn… This wasn't a part of the plan…" I mumbled.

"Sinon!"

Lizbeth quickly ran over and gave me a few healing potions.

"I'm sorry, but I didn't stock on any potions to cure this" She said silently "You'll just have to wait it out"

I tried nodding but I couldn't even do that.

"Did I at least make some sort of difference?"

"You sure did" She smiled and nodded "you've inflicted such an impairing bleeding effect on him that he can barely move. Scilica can cover him on her own now."

"Good. Go get him then"

She nodded and left me alone before running off to confront Ares one last time. Whelp. This is a boring way to end my boss fight with Ares. But at least I was able to impact the battle in our favor. Now the rest of that battle was up to the girls.

After about ten minutes, Ares was down to his last 1 % of his HP, and my Broken status had finally worn off. I was finally able to move a little bit, despite still being weak, and I eventually got back to my feet and began walking towards Lizbeth, Scilica and Pina, who all had grouped up on Ares and managed to force him into a corner.

"Damn you, you little pesticide bitches…" He groaned, his staff broken and splintered by his side "I… I will return. As long as undeath exists in the world… I will return… Even stronger than before"

"And by then, we'll be prepared, Ares" Lizbeth raised her hammer and swung downwards "Now let us be in peace!"

Scilica yelped and looked away as Lizbeth's hammer crashed against Ares' skull, sending his glass body spread all over the battlefield.

I panted a bit as I watched Ares' glass spread through the air, a weirdly beautiful canopy of glass and light, making a rainbow of coloured lights flash everywhere. The beauty was soon cut short though.

A horrible scream rang through the air, the force of the soundwaves waving through the air and vaporizing the glass in midair, quickly making the light and the pleasantness disappear far away from existence.

The scream had originated from Mercuria, who's scream had so much force behind it that it had forced the players around her, namely Agil and Klein, far away from her and given her enough space to let her rage run rampant.

"You… You killed my ARES!" She screamed again, towering over us menacingly and her angry aura almost pulsating off of her "Damn you all to hell… DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!"

She screamed again and tossed her sword away, the sword crunching inside the wall and getting stuck in the crack it created, before she reached down to both her hips and pulled out two one handed swords, both of them burning red with a powerful aura. We could barely even withstand her scream's power on us, much less get close to her.

"Damn it… What the hell even is this!?" Klein growled and stood his ground "How do we get closer to her!?"

"She can't keep this up forever!" Agil yelled back "We just have to wait it up, and keep our guard up!"

Barely had he said that before Mercuria burst forward, clashing both her swords against his great axe, which he almost never managed to rise in defense of her attack. He was pushed backwards by her enormous strength, the ground cracking under the both of their feet as they clashed against one another, lights of blue and red flashing off their weapons each time they struck against one another.

Liz, Scilica, Klein and I quickly ran in to cover for Agil and give him support, but Mercuria jumped out of her lock with him and slashed towards the player who was closest, forcing us to back off.

I growled silently as I was blocked off by her for the third time, and stepped back in recoil. I wasn't much use with only a dagger, and since this was Kazuto's world, we had made prebuild equipment before coming here. I only had that one bow, and it was now in pieces all over the battlefield in the form of glass dust.

"Dammit all…" I mumbled silently.

I had already tried to use the same tactic with Mercuria as I did to incapacitate Ares, but whenever I would try, she just howled with laughter and burst me away with her power. It seemed she could sense anyone who had disguised themselves with illusion spells. Even the tactic that had killed Ares seemed to be for naught this time around.

"Hey, Sinon" Klein came over to my side "I have a plan. It might be risky, but it's the only thing I can come up with right now. And if we don't do something soon, we might just all die"

"As little as I believe in your ability to act as leader, I will listen to you this once" I mumbled as I looked at Mercuria "And hurry, or she might just kill Agil"

He was once again in a clash lock with her, but he seemed to be struggling now. If we didn't do something soon, he would lose the remains of his stamina, and he wouldn't be able to keep up with her anymore.

"We need to surround her before she manages to get out of Agil's lock" He said as we began sprinting towards them "If Agil can distract her long enough, we might be able to surround and slaughter her"

I nodded silently. That was better than any plan I could come up with. We called Scilica and over to us, before quickly explaining the plan to them, and hurriedly executing it.

We each sprinted in approach from each our own side, and I managed to catch Mercuria off her guard by stabbing her quickly in the rips. She staggered out of stance which allowed Agil to land his attack, sending her even more off her balance. And that gave us the opening we needed!

We each attacked her with loud battlecries, going all out from all sides. We each activated almost every sword skill we had in succession, our attacks getting more and more desperate as she staggered between each of us with each powerful attack.

Finally she hit the last 5% of her life points, and we each attacked at the same time, our weapons glowing brightly as they connected with her sides, her head, her legs, and her torso, leaving bright slash marks all over her body.

We panted and almost collapsed in exhaustion, as Mercuria collapsed to her knees, her body trembling as she reached towards the nearest player, being Klein. She grabbed his shirt and growled weakly as she glared daggers up at him.

"Darkness… will… return…"

She finally let go of him and collapsed, her body spreading across the entire battlefield in a beautiful array of rainbow colors and light. We each collapsed to the ground in exhaustion and panted. We had won.

"Fuck… Fuck this damn dungeon" Klein mumbled in exhaustion, his breath deep and ragged.

_**~In the standby lobby, Kazuto's POV~**_

"Wow. They actually managed to beat them" I said with a little laugh "That was unexpected"

"What, you don't believe in them?" Kyouji jabbed at me.

"Nah, I just made my bosses epically overpowered" I said with a smirk as I showed him a tab window with the bosses' stats.

"WHAT!? These stats are for bosses that are at least 10 levels higher than we are!" Kyouji raged, looking just about ready to kill me.

Asuna quickly jumped in between us as Kyouji tried jumping at me, Yui giggling and holding a hand over her mouth as she landed on my head in pixie form and watched as the shenanigans played out, just as the rest of the group spawned in the lobby.

"Kirito, we did it!" Scilica yelled excitedly as she ran up to the bar "We actually beat them!"

"Yeah, and with only a single casualty" Sinon commented as she sent a look over at her boyfriend "Next time I tell you something, listen"

He blushed embarrassed and nodded.

"Okay…"

Agil just laughed his usual laugh and walked behind the bar.

"Better get my drinks out!" He said with a smirk as he began mixing several different alcoholic beverages "Let's do a celebratory toast!"

"I second that!" Klein laughed and grabbed his own glass "To us! And our badassery!"

"Kanpai!"


	50. Chapter 48 - A Proposal In Moonlight

_Sword Art Online_

_After The Incident_

_Chapter 48 – A Proposal In Moonlight_

~At Agil's shop in ALO, Kirito's POV~

"Ahhhh! AGIL! *Hic* Another one!"

"Klein I swear to god, if you climb over the counter one more time, I'll have you arrested!"

I laughed as Agil put Klein in a headlock and began escorting him into the back of the room and far away from the liquor-filled bar. Klein had, as always, been the one who had drank the most, and he had therefore also reached a state of wasted far faster than any other customer in the shop.

"Agil, maybe you should simmer down on the effect your alcohol takes on the players" Asuna mumbled apprehensively as she watched Klein be dragged off with a worried expression "I mean, look at him, he can barely even stand"

"Hey, it's not my fault that he's a showoff" Agil said with an annoyed expression "He was the one who dared he could chug five shots at the first cheers."

"Yeah, but still, 5 shots shouldn't be doing this to him" Asuna mumbled as she walked over to help Agil with a very groggy Klein "My alcohol knowledge might be limited, but I can tell as much as that"

"You don't know how much he's drunk" Agil said with a hearty laugh "Besides, his drunken self makes quite effective entertainment"

I laughed again and took a gander around the bar. Everyone was sitting by their own tables, Lizbeth and Scilica in the right corner by the door, Sinon was scolding Kyouji for not listening to her in the boss battle somewhere in the middle of the bar, Klein was currently being laid down on a bench by the left wall by Agil, and Suguha and Asuna was sitting by either side of me by the bar, Yui proudly sitting on Asuna's shoulder.

"mommy, Klein seems to have a raised drunken status" Yui advised Asuna as she gazed at Klein "I advise that he finds a bed and gets some rest so his character can get the alcohol out of its system. Either that, or log out temporarily"

"Even when you say that, Yui…" I mumbled as I tried to hold my laughter "Klein would probably protest"

"Seriously, he's got some sort of problem" Leafa mumbled as she took a sip of her cranberry drink "Either stubbornness or a drinking problem"

"Don't say that Leafa" Asuna said quickly "He was pretty stressed in the dungeon after all"

"That, I can agree on" I said with a smirk "It seemed that he feared my boss more than I intended for him"

"Oy, Kirito!"

Right on cue, Klein wandered up to me on unsteady feet.

"Please tone down on all the creepy shit in your dungeons man," He said with a solemn expression as he collapsed in a barstool next to Asuna "I could have sworn that place scared at least 2 years off my lifespan"

"Just stop being such a buzzkill, Klein" Lizbeth said with a laugh "No one else seemed as scared as you, you know?"

"That's because… *Hic* no one knows that little bastard like I do" Klein said with a smirk as he grabbed me and began giving me a noogie "Ain't that right, pal?"

"K-Klein, let go of me!" I laughed and pushed him away "Anyway, you should probably get some rest."

Lizbeth shook her head with a sigh and smiled as she walked over to Klein, takin his arm by the wrist and helping him go through his own menu to find the logout button.

"I'll go check up on him IRL" Lizbeth said with a sigh "The fulldive system does have some effects on your body in real life, after all"

"Alright Liz" I sighed softly and shook my head at Klein's drunkenness "Come right back though, this celebration is for everyone"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll hurry"

She smiled and watched Klein's avatar disappear, before her own avatar logged out as well.

"I hope uncle Klein is okay" Yui said with a frown.

It was true. The body could react very poorly from going from completely wasted to absolutely normal in what would be the span of seconds. The fulldive system does have some negative side effects, though normally they were only in the smallest of categories.

"I'm sure he's fine, Yui" I said with a laugh "Believe it or not, he's been worse than that"

"Alright, if you say so, daddy" Yui said with a smile.

The rest of the night went along decently calm. At least there were no longer a Klein to try and climb over the counter, and Liz came back fairly quickly, though I did notice she had a fairly evident blush all over her face when she did return. I wonder what had happened between her and Klein when they were gone?

"K-Klein told me to wish you guys a happy celebration" she said silently "He was incredibly tired after this whole evening"

"Liz, are you okay?" I asked curiously as I looked at her closer "Your face is all red"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine" She said defensively "I'll go chat with Scilica!"

She quickly ran over and settled beside Scilica, no doubt because she wanted to avoid me asking anymore questions.

"What the hell…?" I mumbled, before shrugging my shoulders and reaching for my drink, a weak strawberry sunrise, when Asuna pouted and took it away.

"H-Hey! What gives!?"

"I'm not letting you end up as Klein" She said teasingly as she took a sip of my drink herself "Leafa, help me keep an eye out on your brother for the night, okay?"

"Huh!?" I pouted and glared back at Suguha, who just grinned at me and hummed yes to Asuna's request "Are you seriously going to babysit the hero of SAO!?"

"Please, being good with a sword doesn't mean you're good with booze too" Leafa said with a laugh as she wrapped arms around me from behind to keep me from reaching for my drink "Besides, you've already had three or four drinks, AND, you're still underage"

"What, you keeping tap on me now?" I pouted and sighed "Can't I at least finish my last one?"

"nope, you've had enough" Asuna said with a laugh "And if you want it back-"

She smiled and tapped the drink before it disappeared, having gone into her inventory as an item.

"You're gonna have to catch me!"

She laughed and twirled around before dashing out the door, leaving me behind in complete disarray and confusion. I had never seen her be that playful, so I puffed out my cheeks in a pout before I tried pushing Leafa off me.

"Leafa, let go of me!" I yelled, before I managed to pry her off me and took off after my virtual wife "Asuna, wait!"

"Oy, Kazuto!" Leafa yelled in an attempt to keep me at the bar.

Though it failed horribly. Before anyone else could stop me I had ran outside and exposed my wings before setting off the ground, high into the air, and looking in all directions to see if I could spot the playful undine fairy who had escaped the bar just a few moments earlier.

"Asuna!"

I tried calling. No response.

"hmm… Maybe she's hiding on one of the floating islands" I mumbled, gaining altitude before I began checking them out one by one.

I raised my altitude again and raised myself up over the clouds. Maybe she was hiding up here?

I suddenly felt a heavy impact on my backside and yelped in surprise, before female giggles. I pouted as I turned around and saw my wife smiling up at me mischievously as she hugged around my chest.

"Now would you care to explain why you're acting like this?" I said with a laugh as I began hugging back "It's not like you to be this playful, Asuna"

"Well, I thought changing things up a little would do nicely" She said with a giggle "Actually, I wanted to show you something, Kazuto"

Kazuto huh? She usually only ever called me by my actual name when it was something really serious.

"Sure, where to?"

She smiled and pecked my cheek before taking my hand, and we both began flying through the air at high speed. I noticed we were heading in the general direction of our cottage, but when I saw the house and began ascending, Asuna just shook her head and pulled me back in our original altitude.

"Not here, wait for a moment"

I looked up at her, confused and, very much intrigued. If we weren't going to the cottage, then where could we possibly be going? I couldn't think of that many places that would hold as much of an emotional value to Asuna as the cottage would, but I guess I would find out with time.

We flew for a while, a couple of minutes at best, in comfortable silence. I didn't need to say anything, since I didn't want to pry into Asuna's little secrets. Besides, I had more than enough to look at anyway.

The game of ALO was beautiful. As much as I hated to admit it, Sugou and his team had managed to build an incredibly beautiful game. From the sandy dunes of the salamander desert to the south, to the grass and wetlands of Sylphs and Undine's to the east and southwest respectively, there were so many different areas and places to visit and explore, that I doubt you could explore the entire game in a year if you tried.

I had been playing the game with my friends for a good while at this point, and I still hadn't even set foot in the capital city of Undine territory, which Asuna and I had been talking about on several occasions.

I was quickly distracted from my train of thought when Asuna tucked on my hand and began ascending. I naturally followed, realizing that we were landing by a large lake somewhere outside Alde, the central city of the world tree.

"Asuna, what are we doing out here?" I asked silently, my curiosity uncontainable at this point "I mean, this is a pretty place and all, but…"

Asuna giggled a little and sighed as she turned towards the lake, the moonlight above us shining against us in the water, and creating a surreal fantasy-like atmosphere around us.

"Hey Kazuto… Did you ever realize that we never got remarried here in ALO?"

I widened my eyes and held a breath back from escaping me. That was true, we never did get remarried here like what I had imagined would seem natural for the two of us, considering our backgrounds in SAO.

"Yeah that's true…" I mumbled, a bit embarrassed at the fact that I hadn't even given remarriage a thought "I hate to admit it, but I never even thought about it…"

She smiled silently and nodded. Apparently she didn't mind my embarrassment at the topic, or the fact that I had actually forgotten it.

"To be honest, I had also forgotten…" She mumbled silently as she stepped closer to me "Everything we've been through lately… Honestly took most of my mind off any sort of remarriage"

I nodded silently and sighed. Everythin between Sugou, Kyouji, GGO and the return of the last members of The Laughing Coffin, everything had been a mix of insane chaos in my head, hence my nightmares earlier in this year. They had been at a much less intensity and amount lately, but still, they were still present sometimes.

"I know what you mean" I looked over at her with a curious look "Is remarriage the reason we came out here?"

A simple nod remained as an answer to my question, but she didn't continue right away, leaving me in yet another moment or two in complete curiosity and confusion.

"Yeah… Yeah, that is the reason" Asuna giggled a little and turned back to me "Kirito the detective, strikes again huh?"

I chuckled silently and shook my head at her goofiness. She smiled at me before steeling herself and stepping forward before taking my hand.

"Kazuto, this might be unconventional and all…" She mumbled silently, her gaze wavering a little bit "But… I feel like, now that we've finally managed to find peace with ourselves and our enemies, I find it to be a good time"

I blushed a little and smiled, but my smile quickly fell at surprise of her next move. She went through her inventory, and finally pushed a button, where a small box suddenly appeared in her cupped hands. My jaw practically hit the floor when I realized what she was doing.

"Asuna.. is this a…"

She smiled and nodded a little, the slightest clue of a tear in the corners of her eyes. She chuckled nervously and lowered her face, looking up at me nervously.

"Sh-Should I kneel or something?" She asked silently "I mean, it's normally the guy who proposes to the girl…"

I was completely baffled at the fact that this was happening at all, so I didn't find any other answer than "Do whatever you feel is the right choice"

I blushed a little as she opened the little box between her hands, and finally let the tears roll down her face.

"K-Kazuto… This will be our second virtual proposal.." she said with a silent tear-choked chuckle "Would you do me the honor of marrying me?"

I smiled softly and looked away as I quickly wiped a tear from the corner of my eye, before stepping forward and embracing her in a tight hug.

"Of course I will" I said with a soft chuckle "I would be insane to say no"

This whole emotional charade might seem weird from an outsiders perspective, but the virtual world was just as important to me as the real one. Despite the two world's differences, I really did not feel like VR was fake. The experiences I had had the honor to get in that world, was just as real as the once I had IRL.

It was in VR that I had met all my wonderful friends, and eventually my girlfriend IRL, and my wife in VR. Those memories and relationships was just as real as if they had happened in real life.

So this virtual proposal might have been a little silly. I'm sure other people would have felt weird if their respective counterpart took it so seriously.

But to Asuna and I, this virtual proposal was just as meaningful as one in real life would have been, hence our intense emotions.

I smiled and watched as Asuna slid the ring onto my ring finger, and a window popped up.

_Do you wish to finish this marriage proposal? Your relationship status will be changed to Engaged and you will receive buffs and debuffs fitting to this new status:_

_N/Y_

Asuna took my hand in hers and together, we pressed the yes button, and made the pop up window disappear. We were officially engaged.

I barely even looked up from the message before Asuna drew me in for another hug and kissed me suddenly, making me widen my eyes in surprise. I quickly melted into the kiss, the warmth of her body making my tenseness disappear almost immediately as I kissed back, and embraced her in my arms, just enjoying he closeness between us.

We finally parted from our kiss because of the unfortunate need to breathe, and I smiled as I leaned my forehead against hers and stared deep into her eyes.

"I love you, Asuna Yuuki"

I love you too, Kazuto Kirigaya. And at least in this world, it's Asuna Kirigaya now" she said with a giggle.

"Haha, not yet. Not officially married yet"

"No, but that's gonna change" She said, kissing me shortly again "Hopefully in real life too"

"That sounds wonderful…"

We kissed one final time before sitting down in the dew wet grass by the lake, holding each other's hand and leaning against one another.

There was only a distinct set of memories in my mind that I knew I was going to remember forever. And this was definitely one of them.

Yui eventually came back after having hunted down some monsters, and we sat together by the lake, throwing rocks into the water and talking about our most precious memories.

It was moments like this that made people like Sugou worth it to endure. To just have a moment to myself with my two favorite girls in the world, was worth all the pain and all the trouble the world could ever throw at us.

And with the pale moonlight shining up at us from the deep blue waters of the lake, the night eventually drew to a close.


End file.
